Chapter Sixty One – "The Mill"

Neville’s jaw nearly hit the floor when he saw them. Lying on the mill floor in Thomas’ arms was Lily wrapped in nothing but a thin piece of cloth. Both were asleep and unaware of he and Travis’ entrance early the next morning. Neville clenched his fists as he started towards them. He was quickly caught by Travis, "Hold on there, man. That’s not the best way to go about it and you know it." Neville was seething through gritted teeth, "But look at ‘em! How could she…" He stopped in mid-thought as if to suddenly change his mindset, "Tom knew that I was seeing Lily!" "Were you?" Travis glared at him with eyebrows raised, "Did she know that?" Neville jerked his arm from Travis’ grasp, "Of course she d…" "Or did she just consider you two as friends on a friendly outing, perhaps?" Travis interrupted him with his gaze intently warning Neville not to approach the sleeping couple. Neville gave an exasperating sigh as he turned back to look at Lily, "You think so? Do you think that’s all it was?" "I don’t know, Neville…but from the looks of things, it’s possible," as he motioned toward the pair. "I’ll tell you how it ‘looks’ to me Travis," Neville started for the door and turned around in time to finish his thought, "It looks like we have another Natalie!" He slammed the door behind him. The loud crash caused Thomas to stir. Travis, not wanting to be caught there, quickly slipped out the door and gently closed it behind him.

"How are you feeling, Princess?" Mike gently caressed Snow’s cheek when he saw her open her eyes. She smiled at the sight of her Prince standing over her bedside, "Better, thank you." Mike had taken Snow to the surgery the night before when she started feeling the terrible chills. She started shaking violently, and Mike decided to take action. Karen said she had no fever and her body temperature was normal. She had no explanation for the chills that now seemed only a memory. "Ow’s Snow? I ‘eard she wadn’t feelin’ too good." Stevie approached behind Mike wearing a concerned look and twisting one of his more worn out paperbacks in his hands. "She seems to be fine, now." Karen put a reassuring hand on Stevie’s shoulder. "It was probably just a twelve-hour bug, or something like that." The surgery door suddenly burst open with a very annoyed Neville charging through it followed by Travis who was apparently trying to calm him down. "I’m just after the blasted aspirin, Travis! Sod off!" Karen and Mike were surprised to see Neville in such a huff, since he’s usually so laid back. "Karen, ya got any aspirin, or somethin’? I got a killer ‘eadache." Without a word, for fear it may irritate him further, Karen grabbed a bottle of aspirin from the medicine cabinet and handed it to Neville. Stevie’s eyes lit up as he remembered their original outing plans for that morning, "Oi! So did ya get that gen’rator workin’? Can we run the boombox from it now, eh?" Travis rolled his eyes, as he had hoped to escape the surgery without the subject of the mill being brought up. Neville glared in Stevie’s direction, then threw a sarcastic smile towards Mike, "Don’t know…why don’t you ask Tom and Lily? They were the ones at the mill all night…of course I don’t think it was the generator they were working!" Snow walked into the room in time to catch his statement, "Lily? What are you talking about, Neville? Lily is in her cabin with Yvonne." Neville folded his arms and retorted, in spite of Travis’ efforts to silence him, "Well then Yvonne sure has gone through a fantastic change to look a lot like Tom…aside the fact that she sleeps without a shirt…and down at the mill no less." Travis grabbed him by the arm and proceeded to lead him out of the surgery, "OK, Neville. I think that’s quite enough." Quickly Snow brushed past Mike and Stevie toward the door. Mike caught her just as she reached it, "Snow, Where are you going? You’ve been sick." Snow touched Mike’s arm in a reassuring way, "I’m fine, Mike. I have to go to Lily. Why would she be at the mill? Come with me?" He squeezed her hand, "Alright." He grabbed both of their coats and they headed out the door.

Thomas stroked Lily’s face and hair. He knew they needed to get back to the village, but he didn’t have the heart to wake her. If truth be known, he was too much enjoying just watching her sleep so peacefully. No nightmares for her this night. Carefully he rose and went to check on the dampness of their clothes. His shirt and Lily’s skirt were dry, but her cardigan sweater was still damp…perhaps it would suffice until she could get some dry clothing back at her cabin. As he began to button his shirt, Lily woke. She felt a little dizzy, unsure of what had all happened. The last thing she remembered was skating on the pond at dusk. She was suddenly startled, as the sight of waking up in the same room with a man who happened to be buttoning up his shirt was startling enough. But to then realize she was lying practically naked under a thin cloth on the floor of a strange place was just too much. "What’s going on, here? Where am I?" Thomas looked up quickly, "Lily, you’re awake. Are you feeling alright?" As Tom rushed to her side, Lily felt very confused and her thoughts raced in her head. What’s happened? What is this? Why am I here? Why is HE here? Why am I not dressed? Oh God, what’s happening! Thomas read the fear in her eyes, "Lily, it’s alright. Last night you went through the ice. I pulled you out. You were freezing. I brought you here to warm you up…" She pulled the cloth up to her neck and began to slink away from Tom, "My clothes! Why…" Tom tried to reach out to her to comfort her, "They were wet and cold. I had to dry them…" "Get away from me!" Her words stabbed Tom like a knife, who so desperately wanted to hold Lily and tell her everything would be alright. "Lily, it’s alright…nothing happened. I would never hurt you, Lily…" The mill door opened just in time for Mike and Snow to witness Lily screaming at Tom, "Get away!" On impulse, Mike charged at him as Thomas stood up, and thrust him against the far wall, "What the hell do you think you’re doing!" Snow ran to her sister and scooped Lily’s crying heap into her arms, "Mike, take him out of here while I get Lily dressed!" Mike promptly yanked Tom outside by the arm and shirt collar, as Tom sputtered, "I can explain…"

Thrusting Tom onto the ground he slammed the mill door behind them. "You’ve got one minute then, Killion. One minute to explain why you’re at the mill alone with my sister-in-law, why she’s undressed, and why she was screaming just now!" Thomas got up and dusted the dirt from his pants, "Last night, I came here to just take a look at that generator contraption. On my way home I heard a cry for help. It came from the lake. When I got there I found Lily’s scarf on the ice, but no Lily." Mike’s countenance had changed from furious to somewhat annoyed curiosity, as he folded his arms, "Go on…" "There was a hole out in the thinner part of the ice on the lake. I found her under the water…I pulled her out. She wasn’t breathing, so I gave that CP-whatever mouth to mouth thing that Karen showed us that one time." Mike nodded. So far he believed Tom’s story. The passion and emotion in which he told it, signified to Mike that he was probably telling the truth. "It worked…she started coughing, I couldn’t believe it. She was freezin’, though. The closest shelter was here. I started a fire, but she was still shaking so bad, her clothes were wet and cold. What could I do? I didn’t look at her…I swear. Even though I wanted to, I didn’t. You gotta believe me, Mike! I’d never do anything to hurt Lily." Mike could see something in his eyes that told him that he cared more for Lily than he was letting on. He’d casually noticed Tom glancing at Lily here and there, but never thought much of it…till now. "You care a great deal for Lily, don’t you Tom? More than you’ve been letting on. Am I right?" Tom lowered his gaze…why should he lie. Tom knew how he felt about Lily. Perhaps a week ago or so he wasn’t sure, but now… He nodded without looking at his friend. So now what, Tom thought? Mike patted Tom’s shoulder, "I believe you, man. I do. But now’s the hard part…" Tom looked up at Mike. "You have to tell Lily. Obviously, she doesn’t remember." Tom started for the door, eager to clear the air with Lily, "I’ll just tell her the truth…" "Wait…" Mike grabbed his arm gently, "First, there’s something about Lily that you should know…"

"Your sweater is still damp…hopefully your coat will keep you warm. We’ll get you some dry clothes at the cabin." Snow folded the dropcloth and set it aside as Lily’s soft words regained her attention, "He said I fell through the ice last night…and that he pulled me out. He had to dry my clothes, he said. I know I over-reacted when you and Mike came in. I hope Mike doesn’t kill him." Snow giggled, "He won’t….I know Mike, and he won’t. You were just scared, that’s all. You had just woken up." "Yes, but he saves my life and I repay him by screaming at him…there’s gratitude for ya!" Snow took her hand, "You can talk to him…" "No, I don’t think I can face him right now. It’s just too strange. He undressed me, Snow…that’s just too strange to me. I wouldn’t know what to say. Maybe just some time…to get over the whole thing, you know?" Snow smiled and nodded. Mike entered the mill…he was alone. He read Lily’s questioning eyes, "Tom went on back to the village. He figured that you need some time." He helped both the girls to their feet, "I feel so silly. Here he saves my life, and I can’t even have the decency to thank him. He must wonder what’s wrong with me." "Well…" Mike began, not quite knowing how to introduce the issue. Lily could read it in his eyes, "What is it?" "I told him Lily…about the attack. I really thought he should know. Please don’t be angry." Lily sighed, and took Mike’s hand, "No, it’s alright. I’m glad you did. Maybe it will help him understand why I’ve been so…strange. It’s hard for me to tell people what happened. Maybe now he can at least understand…"

Thomas had diligently been working on Lily’s request of him ever since returning in the mill. After a finishing touch on the handle…it was done. It was strange though, Tom thought, that Lily would request such a large and dangerous weapon. Did she even know how to use a machete? He hoped she wasn’t still angry with him. He chuckled to himself…perhaps he should make sure before he gave it to her. "Hello Tom." His ears perked up to the shy and gentle voice of Lily. As he turned around, he was startled to find her simply standing a few feet from him. He wondered how long she’d been there. "I never got to thank you for…saving my life last night." Tom wanted to speak, but couldn’t find the words. "It seems that I’m doing that all the time, doesn’t it…thanking you," she began again shyly, "Like when you helped me find the herbs I needed for the nightmares." Then it occurred to Tom…the nightmares! He suddenly remembered what Mike told him. He knew now why she was so frightened this morning when she awoke. God, what a monster…that bastard Captain! How could anyone harm such a sweet and beautiful girl, and one who was only fourteen! Again, he resisted the urge to take Lily into his arms as he stepped towards her, "Lily, I’m so sorry I frightened you. I’d never do anything to hurt you…" "I know," she smiled reassuringly, knowing that he now knew her secret. She took his hands in hers. Tom almost winced in seeing how dirty his hands were from the shop work he’d been doing, "What you did for me last night was very brave. You risked your own life to save mine, " She lowered her gaze to their hands in somewhat embarrassment, "You have to forgive me if I feel a little awkward…I mean…well since…" Tom knew exactly what she meant to say and he squeezed her hands, bringing her eyes to his once again, "It’s alright…I know everything’s a little awkward. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable around me, Lily. But I understand if you need some time." Lily smiled. What a wonderful gentleman, she thought. How thoughtful of him to be so courteous of her feelings. Perhaps his previous experience at being married caused him to be so perceptive of a woman’s feelings. Tom basked in the moment while he was able to gaze into her eyes, knowing she’d probably just as quickly run off to practice some sort of dance or instrument. "Well, well, well…if it isn’t the two lovebirds. " Thomas’ absorption into Lily was interrupted by the sudden and annoying words of Neville. "I thought perhaps you’d decided to make the mill your new permanent place of residence. I hope the generator wasn’t too much of an eyesore for you." Thomas glared at the unwelcome visitor, as he also noticed how quickly Lily was becoming uncomfortable, "Neville, what the hell are you talking about?" The visitor folded his arms and peered at them both snidely, "You don’t have to deny anything to me, Tom. I saw you this morning. Travis and I made the mistake of rising early to get a head start on that generator…but it seems you two had gotten a head start of your own." Thomas was mortified. He and Travis must have come in while they were both asleep this morning, and of course both jumped to the wrong conclusions. His anger at Neville was only overshadowed by his concern that Lily would become very upset to be accused of such a thing, "Neville, you’re all wrong about that. Nothing happened…" "Really…well then perhaps I need glasses, because I know what I saw." At which point, he turned to Lily, "So did you two conjure up this cover-up together, or was it all your idea to keep me in the dark about it?" Lily felt her temperature rise to new levels at the accusations this man was hurling at them. Maybe under normal circumstances she might have been upset, but coming from this big ‘liar’, she was just plain enraged, "Oh, and who’s the pot calling the kettle black here, Mr. ‘Song Thief King’!" Taken aback by her words, Neville blinked, lowering his tone a bit, "What?" Lily’s finger suddenly flew up in Neville’s face, "That’s right, ‘Sir Guns N Roses’…I know you didn’t write that song…but you sure wanted the credit for it, didn’t you?" Neville couldn’t think of a word to say as he felt his face flush hot in having his own lie shoved back at him. "How dare you jump to conclusions and make assumptions that aren’t true. It just so happens that Tom saved my life last night when I fell through the ice. He took me to the mill to keep me from freezing to death. But obviously your dirty little mind could never comprehend any explanation other than the one you’ve thrown out just now. " Lily began to step toward Neville, forcing him out of the woodshop, "You know, it was because of YOU…" she shoved him in the chest, "and finding out you lied to me about that STUPID SONG…" she shoved him even harder, "that I went skating all alone in the first place! If Thomas hadn’t heard me cry for help, I’d be DEAD right now…no thanks to YOU!!" Thomas was glad he’d kept his mouth shut, as it turned out that Lily was quite capable of defending her own honor. He smiled at her proudly as she turned up her nose to Neville and stormed off. Neville’s mouth was an open invitation for flies or any other flying objects as he stood with his mouth agape. Turning to look at Thomas, Tom quickly went back to his work, whistling and trying to appear as though he didn’t even notice Neville still standing there. As he turned to look back in the direction of where Lily stormed off, he rubbed at his chest where she had jabbed him.

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Lily sat by the fire in the main hut repairing the dulcimer that Stevie had broken two of the strings on. "Lily, I’m sa sorry. I was jus’ tryin’ to practice…an’ they jus’ broke…bam, jus’ like ‘at!" Lily smiled and tried to stifle a giggle at his sincere regret, "It’s OK Stevie. It can be fixed. It happens all the time." Stevie sat next her peering closely and eagerly over her shoulder, "Will ya be able ta fix it in time ta do ‘nother show tomorra? We gotta perform for evr’body!" Lily nodded, and again stifled her giggling at Stevie’s great concern over nothing, "Yes, Stevie…it’s OK. I’ll have it fixed up in no time." Snow watched poor Stevie fretting over his new prized instrument. Poor thing, she thought. He really took it seriously. He’d learned very quickly and was playing extremely well…like a real natural. Then Snow smirked at the idea she got to take his thoughts off the dulcimer for at least enough time for Lily to finish the repairs. She crept over to him and jabbed into both sides of his abdomen with her fingers, tickling him. Instinctively, he whirled around on his knees and tackled her to the floor. She squealed as he tickled her in return. The event caused some raised eyebrows throughout the cabin, including Lily. And the sound of Snow’s squeal like a homing beacon into the kitchen sent Mike bounding into the hut right away. Seeing the harmless gesture, Mike added teasingly, "Alright, Stevie…I always knew you were after her. But you’re too late now, she’s mine!" Acting quickly, Stevie jumped up with an extremely guilty conscience, as he realized that he did indeed tackle Mike’s wife. But seeing Mike laughing at the both of them calmed Stevie, and he sighed as he realized Mike was only kidding. Finally, Lily was done with the repairs to the dulcimer. Stevie grabbed up the instrument with a word of thanks to Lily and headed outside to practice. In his excited state, he almost tripped and dropped it…but thankfully he caught it just in time. Embarrassed that he almost broke it a second time, he didn’t look back at Lily, but simply rushed outside. The sisters giggled as Lily leaned back against the chair and stared into the fire. She couldn’t help but think of Kahlua. She had quickly become such a good friend to her. Seems like they’d just gotten to know each other, and then she was gone. Lily had placed much trust and thought into the things Kahlua told her, seeing that she was quite wise regarding people and relationships…plutonic or otherwise. All the questions she stored in her head seemed so trivial and unimportant now, compared to her concern for Kahlua. She didn’t want to listen to the pessimistic reports of the men regarding Kahlua’s whereabouts. Lily had never trusted men, anyway…why start now? The snow had been fierce for the past day or so, but now seemed to be calming a bit. Feeling the fire’s warmth and watching the snow fall, Snow thought for a moment before disturbing the silence in her sister, "Lily, you know I felt you…that night when you were in the ice." Lily shook from her thoughts of Kahlua and looked at her sister with confused eyes. "What?" "I felt that there was something wrong. I felt the chills and the freezing cold that you were feeling…although at the time I didn’t know what was happening. I just couldn’t stop shivering. Mike was so worried about me that he took me to the surgery. But Karen said there was nothing wrong with me. When I found out what happened to you, I knew what it was right away. It’s that link we share, because we’re twins." Snow shook her head sadly and looked to a spot on the floor, "If I’d known what was happening, I would have come after you. I should have known…I’m sorry Lily. I should have been there for you." Lily took her hand as Snow began to sniffle, "Snow, my stupidity of falling through the ice is not your fault…it’s no one’s fault but mine. Please don’t blame yourself. How could you have possibly known?" Snow lowered her head and nodded, "I guess. But next time, I’ll know better. If I ever have that feeling again, I’m coming to look for you…so just be ready!" Lily chuckled, "Trust me, I don’t plan to get into trouble like that again. I’m going to be smarter from now on." Snow observed her sister fall back into her thoughts, and couldn’t help but to be curious, "What are you thinking, dear?" Snow was concerned about her sister after seeing how close she had come to Kahlua. And then just after that, she had the blow up at Neville when he jumped to conclusions about she and Tom. "Oh, nothing. It’s just…" "Yes?" Snow eyed her curiously. Lily lowered her voice a little, conscious to the others around them, "Perhaps I was a little hard on Neville. I did sort of lose my temper with him, you know? Maybe I should give him another chance. I don’t want friction with anyone else in the village…Natalie was bad enough. I’m glad she’s gone, in fact. Let’s hope she stays that way!" Lily sighed as she continued her thought, "Oh, I don’t know. I guess what’s really bothering me is that I still feel somewhat uncomfortable around Tom…and I don’t want to be. We’re friends—good friends. It’s so silly. What’s wrong with me?" Snow leaned in closer, "Nothing is wrong with you. You just feel a little strange about the clothing situation in the mill. You’re still trying to get over what happened years ago." "But that’s just it…it’s been five years. I should be over it by now…at least some. I still feel the same inhibitions I felt then. I don’t want to feel this way anymore. I want to make friends in the village…feel like I can trust people, spend time with people." "I’ll be your friend, Lily," came the uninvited voice of Raif joined by Nigel’s flirtatious tone, "Yeah…I’ll spend time with ya. How ‘bout my place?" "Sod off!" The men’s eyebrows raised to such a strong sentiment coming from the likes of Snow. "Guys," began Lily, "this is an ‘A-B’ conversation…please ‘C’ your way out!" "Good one Lily!" came a cheer of approval from Yvonne snickering in the corner. Stifling their chuckles, the guys looked at each other in wonder at where the girls had heard such statements. It didn’t take them long to figure it out.

"Boy, this is even more fun than practicin’!" Stevie watched eagerly as Neville and Travis worked to get the generator power to work on the boombox. "Stevie, now we don’t want to get you in trouble with those ‘musical sisters’. Are you sure we’re not takin’ you away from a rehearsal of some sort?" "Nah! We already practiced our deal this…" His train of thought was interrupted by a hearty cheer from Travis, "Got it! OK…try the boombox now, Neville!" Travis got the crank to turn via the waterwheel after using one of the belts from Lily’s truck. Neville hooked up the wires to the battery terminals inside the electric music box and crossed his fingers. The digital light came on! They suddenly heard static coming from the speakers. "Quick Stevie, hand me a CD," then after a thought Neville added quickly, "NOT Guns and Roses, please!" Stevie happily passed Neville a greatest hits compilation of one his favorite singers. Neville fumbled with the buttons and before they knew it, the room was filled with the vocal sounds of Rod Stewart. "You bet your arse we’re ‘forever young’ there Rod!" The three guys cheered triumphantly as they shared ‘high fives’

Lily crawled out to the end of the branch with the rope. She wasn’t taking any chances on that thin ice again. The branch reached out past the point where the thinner ice started. She securely tied the rope to the branch, then let it hang down about three feet from the ground. She then caught herself scanning the area for Kahlua. She wished there was something she could do. She’d get into so much trouble if she tried looking on her own. Sighing in defeat, she climbed out of the tree, put on her skates and headed toward the rope. After tugging on it a few times, she smiled that she had retained her knot tying skills. She went back to the edge of the pond and quickly skated toward the rope, grabbing onto it before reaching the thin ice. "This way, we’ll have a second chance if anyone should ever go sliding toward the thin ice again. In fact, I think I’ll double check that knot one more time just to be sure." Neville was on his way back to the village from the mill with the boombox and Stevie’s CD collection under his arm when he heard Lily’s voice, but she didn’t appear to be talking to anyone in particular. "Hey, up there! I thought that was your voice, Lily! What are ya doin’ up in a tree?" On seeing Neville below her, Lily rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, "That’ll teach me to talk to myself." Neville didn’t hear what she said but assumed it probably wasn’t too complimentary considering their heated exchange of words the other day. "Hey, Lily…I’m sorry I said those things about you and Tom. I just didn’t know the real story. And I’m sorry I lied about that song. I guess I’m just a typical guy. Ya know, always trying to impress." Lily giggled before she could stifle it, then proceeded to start down the tree. "C’mon…let me help you out of that tree." Neville put the boombox and CD’s down and went to help Lily out of the tree. He reached up to lift her down, but she quickly jumped the rest of the way, "I’m quite accustomed to climbing trees, Neville. But I appreciate the thought." She strided over to scoop up her skates, when the idea hit Neville, "Hey! You wanna skate for a little while? We got the boombox now. Please don’t be mad anymore and skate with me." Lily put her hands on her hips and glared at Neville for a second. She was still a little angry, but she did think perhaps she was a little hard on him…practically accusing him of causing her accident. She felt herself weaken as she admired his handsome features, and even more so, was tempted by the thought of skating to the music of that blasted boombox. She gave in, "OK, I guess." "Great!" Neville’s eyes lit up, "I’ll go get my skates. Be back in a flash." Skeptically, she watched him dash off then went over to look at the collection of music he’d left behind to skate to. As she flipped through the silver disks, one in particular caught her eye and she gave a mischievous grin, "Guns ‘N Roses…hmmmm"

Lily patiently skated around the pond near the boombox as she waited for Neville to put his skates on. As he finally approached the ice, Lily glided over to the boombox, "I found a special selection of music that I thought you might appreciate." Neville smiled as Lily clicked on the boombox and skated towards him. His smile faded as he heard the familiar musical introduction of the very song he’d previously taken credit for writing a few days earlier, "Oh no! Did you have to play that one?" Lily giggled and teasingly glided back and forth in front of the box daring him to try to cross her path to turn it off. He started towards it and she blocked him, so he went the other direction…again, blocked. Finally, he picked her up, intending to set her down behind him so he could get to the boombox. As he set her down, her skate caught a wet spot on the ice and she started to slide through his legs. He caught her under her arms and yanked her up quickly, putting their faces just centimeters apart. Stunned for a moment, Lily rested helpless in Neville’s grasp. As he gazed into her blue eyes, he couldn’t resist this time…he had to kiss her. As he pulled her into him, his lips meeting hers, he felt her melt under the embrace. Lily felt her knees buckle. But why? Suddenly, a feeling of déjà vu came over her and her thoughts rushed back to the night she felt through the ice. When she’d opened her eyes from her terribly cold dreams, a tender and caring man held her in his arms…his warm and comforting arms. Yes, she had felt helpless like that day when she was fourteen, but it was different that night. She felt safe within this man’s grasp. Then he had kissed her. A moment so warm and loving, it twinged at her heart. The memory had returned to her now. Could it be that night was her first introduction to it…to that wonderful thing called ‘love’? It was Thomas. Tom, her good friend, who had been so kind to her, had helped her, had talked with her…had saved her life. Thomas kissed her that night…she hadn’t remembered till now. It was Neville’s kiss at this moment that triggered her memory from that chilly, yet warm night. Quickly, she regained her strength and pulled back from the kiss, stunned at her own discovery. In doing so, she slipped on the ice landing hard on her backside with a thud. Neville was surprised and concerned at her reaction as he knelt down, "Lily, are you alright? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I shouldn’t have…" She waved him off with her hand, "No, it isn’t you, it’s me. I just had a thought…I mean I just remembered something. I really have to go." Neville helped her to her feet. He could see how flustered she had become all of a sudden, "Really…Lily, I’m sorry. Forgive me. I just got carried away. I promise I won’t…" "No, Neville, really. I’m quite alright." She skated to the bank and proceeded to remove her skates, "It’s not you, Neville. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just that I remembered something important I must do, that’s all. I’m not mad at you, I promise. I’m sure we’ll be able to skate another time. With all of the snow we’ve had, I’m sure there’s plenty of cold weather to skate through." She stood and put a reassuring hand on his arm, "Really, it’s OK." Lily dashed off leaving Neville flabbergasted and speechless. As he heard the song ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ playing slower and slower due to weak batteries, he was able to come to the conclusion that at least this time, she didn’t leave because of his singing.

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Snow sat by the fire in their cabin enjoying the lasting warmth of the fire. She stared up at the portrait of her and her sister’s parents, the lovely royal couple they were. "Darling," Mike put his arms around Snow’s neck adding a hint of concern in his voice, "You didn’t eat much today. Tired of wolf meat already?" as he threw out a sly and somewhat sarcastic grin. Snow touched his hands around her neck with hers, "No…well yes, I guess a little. I just haven’t been very hungry…worrying about everything. Lily almost freezing, and all of the wolf attacks lately...and of course one can’t help but to think about Kahlua." A sadness rested in her voice as Mike came around to sit beside her, "Sweetheart, you can’t worry so much about things. You know it could cause your ulcer to act up. That’s probably why you haven’t been hungry. I think perhaps you should try your diet for a week or so." Snow sighed in frustration, "Oh, but it’s so bland…no flavor to anything at all." "Yes, but it will keep that ulcer from acting up." He softly touched her face, "OK?" Snow sighed loudly, "OK." Snow suddenly grinned as a devious thought grew in her head, "So if I can’t have anything good, then I suppose I’ll have to stay away from you, as well." "Oh, no you won’t!" Mike grabbed her, spinning her around and pinning her to the floor, "That diet does not exclude your husband! Not all good things are bad for you, you know." Snow giggled beneath him. As Mike gazed into her eyes, the urge hit him to sweep her off of her feet and onto their bed. However, before he had the chance to act on the urge, Snow’s words stopped him, "Mike, let’s go see the puppies!" Her words left him slightly confused, and all he could do was simply look at her. "You know, the puppies at the mine?" "Now?" he tutted. "Yes! I’d really like to see them. And the snow has let up a lot. Can we go?" Mike smiled in spite of his disappointment, "Of course." Snow happily rose and went for her coat, oblivious to her husband’s foiled plans.

"Snow! Here you are!" Lily found Mike and Snow hand in hand just leaving their cabin. "Lily, we’re glad to see you. We were just going to see the puppies over at the mine. Care to join us?" Lily looked over at Mike then back at Snow, "I need to talk to you." Snow nodded and smiled, "We can talk on the way." Lily glanced at Mike, "Well, um.." Mike sensed her intentions and chuckled, "I get it. You need a word alone with Snow, right?" Lily guiltily averted her gaze to the ground. "It’s alright. I’ll just walk a few paces behind you ladies while you talk. It’s just that with all the wolf attacks, I’d rather you ladies not go anywhere without an ‘armed’ escort." He motioned to the pistol on his belt provided to him by Duncan. "Would that be alright? I won’t eavesdrop, I promise." Lily smiled and giggled, "It’s alright Mike…you’re my brother, I don’t mind, really. But I’d love to come along."

Lily kicked the stones in front of her as they walked with Mike just a few paces behind them, "I can’t explain it Snow. It’s like I could see it all so clearly, whereas before Neville kissed me I didn’t remember any of it. I feel a little guilty for thinking of Tom while being with Neville, though." Snow tutted, "Don’t worry about ‘ol ladies’ man Neville. He’s quite capable of finding someone else to flirt with, like Natalie…if she ever comes back, that is." Lily winced at the name, still unsure as to why Natalie would want to take her precious dream tea. Brushing the image of Natalie out of her mind, she continued, "It’s like that day of the attack, I felt so helpless…I couldn’t do anything. But this night was different…HE was different. He was warm and caring and tender. Being so weak I couldn’t fight, but it was like I didn’t want to…for the first time in my life, I didn’t want to. I’ve always fought love…fought it within myself. I fought any feelings I might ever have for any man…so I just never allowed myself to have those feelings. I can’t help it…it’s like part of me doesn’t have a choice but to fight. But that night, I didn’t fight…I couldn’t, I was too weak. But in that moment when I dared to explore a feeling I’d never dared…even for a split-second—that was when I felt it. That was when I realized…I felt loved in his arms, in his kiss. I actually felt love for him." Then Lily swallowed hard, "Snow…I think I may be falling for Thomas." The girls stopped. Snow was slightly stunned by Lily’s words. "Hey, you two. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re here." Snow turned at Mike’s voice, and noticed that they were indeed standing at the mine’s door. There was something strange, though. The door was open. Why? The trio went inside, "Ben!" There was no answer…not even a bark or welcome from Max. The three went ahead to Ben’s main chamber and found the mother wolf and her cubs sleeping, but no Max and no Ben. "This is just too strange." Mike put a reassuring hand on Snow’s shoulder, "I’m sure everything’s alright, darling. They probably went out for a walk. We can just wait here for them." "I’d like to check down in the lower mine, if that’s alright. He may be down there digging out those other chambers. He’s been talking about doing that for a while now." Mike smiled and nodded. Although Lily was not thrilled about going down to where that mirror was, she did not wish to be alone, so she joined them as they took the elevator down to the lower chamber. "Ben! Ben, are you down here?" There was no answer to Snow’s call. They headed to the mirror chamber with Mike’s lantern leading the way. "Ben, you in here?" The mirror cavern was dark as usual…nothing new there. But Snow saw something that caught her eye as the lantern swayed past the bookcase. The bookcase…why was it here by the wall? They had put it on the mirror, along with a few other pieces of furniture with the help of Mike and Neville the other day to secure that the mirror couldn’t be lifted by those on the other side. "Mike, could you please shine the lantern over here." As Mike brought the light over to his wife, what they saw took Snow’s breath away. The mirror was standing! It was no longer on the floor where they’d left it. Snow gasped and took a few steps back. Glancing to the floor, she saw tiny patches of blue. Kneeling down closer, she saw that they were blue feathers. "These are Tweety’s feathers! Why was Tweety down here?" Mike picked up another bit of curious evidence just underneath the feathers. He stroked the long strands of black hair, "Looks like Tweety was fighting with someone…took a good chunk of hair here." Snow took the hair in her hands, "This has to be Natalie’s hair…it’s too dark or long to be anyone else’s. Whatever she did, Tweety was trying to stop her. I hope my little Tweety’s alright. Natalie had to be the one to stand the mirror up. No one else would have done that. But why? And where’s Ben and Max?" Suddenly, the thought struck Snow and she quickly dropped the hair and turned around. Just as she feared, Lily sat curled into a ball on the floor of the cavern. She was trembling and afraid…too afraid to even cry. "Mike, could you please put the mirror back down and secure it once again?" Mike nodded and proceeded to lower the mirror back to the floor and stack the furniture on top of it once again. Snow quickly rushed over and knelt down next her sister. She couldn’t think of what to say. No words seemed appropriate. In a trembling voice, Lily finally found the strength to cry as the tears started to fall, "He’s here! Snow, he’s in the Willows! He came with her…I know he did!" She sobbed as Snow tried to comfort her in her arms. "He’ll find me! Oh God, Snow…I know he’ll find me!"

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"Hey guys!" Jennifer burst into the main hut, "I think ya’ll should come take a look at this! The ‘Willows fairy’ dropped us anothuh package!" All the men rushed out in anticipation of the newest gifts that had been bestowed upon them by their mysterious ‘fairy’ . There it was by the woodshop…the large familiar crate. Duncan pried the top off the crate with a large rod of iron from the shop. Inside they found flashlights, rechargeable batteries and charger, a roll of aluminum foil, a large spool of wire, a device that looked similar to a small motor, three strange-looking silver boxes and some other odds and ends like general tools, screws, nails and other things. "Excellent! Rechargeable batteries!" Neville’s beaming smile quickly diminished as once again he remembered they had no electricity. "Bugger! I forgot." Travis chuckled to himself in seeing that Neville always seemed to forget their lack of that minor little luxury called ‘electricity’. "I wonder wha’ this is, eh?" Stevie held up one of the odd-looking silver boxes in his hand. As Travis eyed the object, his face lit up, "That’s a solar cell, Stevie! A solar cell converts the sun’s rays or energy into mechanical energy. Look, there are three of them here." He sifted into the crate pulling out the other two cells. "I’d bet we could power that battery recharger with one of these cells, even." Neville perked up at the thought. Stevie gained his usual excited tone, "Oi! That ‘Willows fairy’ sure does know what we’re needin’, doesn’t she, Travis? Maybe we could even use solar power on Jennifer’s gen’rator at the mill!" Travis nodded thoughtfully as he inspected one of the cells, "We’ll have to see. But I’m sure we can find something useful to power up in the village." Karen chuckled at the behavior of the men…just like kids in a candy store, "Great…the Willows men now have power tools!" "Karen!" Karen’s attention was pulled away from Travis’ lesson on physics when Mike came running up to her. He was carrying Lily in his arms and Snow was right by his side. Eyeing Lily’s limp frame in Mike’s arms, she frowned, "Mike, what happened?" "That Natalie! She set the mirror up, letting Margurite or Phillipe or God knows whomever else into the Willows. Lily got so scared she hyperventilated and finally passed out at the mine." "How do you know it was Natalie who sabotaged the mirror?" Karen inquired as she took Lily’s pulse. "We found this." Snow produced in her hand a clump of long black hair strands mixed with blue feathers. "This could only be Natalie’s hair. It’s too long or dark for anyone else. I think Tweety tried to stop her. I hope she didn’t hurt him." Karen rested Lily’s wrist back onto her stomach in Mike’s arms, "Let’s get her to the surgery."

Lily had checked out OK physically, but emotionally, she was doing miserably. That evening, she began the horrible nightmare spells again. Mike insisted she have someone with her round the clock everywhere she went. He even suggested, to Snow’s surprise, that Lily come and stay with them until the incident blew over. There was no telling what happened while that mirror was up. Perhaps Margurite did enter the Willows…no one knew. And where was Natalie? Obviously, she was still around to have sabotaged the safety of the mirror. Even with a double dose of her dream tea, Lily still continued to have nightmares.

As morning broke, Snow opened her eyes to the sunlight shining through her window. As she rolled over, she felt Mike there next to her. She smiled with a joy in knowing that Lily hadn’t cried out in her dreams during the night. Perhaps the bad dreams were over? Snow leaned over the edge of the bed where they had prepared a bed for Lily on the floor…but she wasn’t there. "Lily?" She peered around the room, but didn’t see her sister. "Mike?" She gently awoke her husband, "Lily is gone. Did you see her leave?" "No." Mike rubbed his eyes, still groggy, and swung his feet off the bed. "Maybe she went to breakfast early to help out." Snow rose and began to get dressed, "I do wish she’d have let us known, though. I don’t want her going anywhere alone, with that, that …monster potentially out there." When they arrived at the hut, Lily was not there…just Stevie who had risen early and come to the hut to read, unable to fall back asleep. "I’ll help ya look for ‘er!" was his eager response. With Stevie’s help they began to search around the village. Snow was very worried at this point, especially when they didn’t find Lily in the surgery. Some of the other villagers had awoken and were beginning to help with the search. Duncan wasn’t convinced that Lily was still in the village, "Maybe we should search the woods, since it’s daylight now. She could have gone to the mine." Snow shook her head vigorously now on the verge of tears as Mike kept a reassuring arm around her, "No, she wouldn’t go anywhere alone…especially the mine! Not with that mirror there." Afraid that she might have gone out in search of Kahlua, Duncan wasn’t about to lose yet another villager. He had already started heading toward his cabin with some of the others to gather some weapons when Snow spotted a strange sight. Just by chance, it caught her eye that the door to the jailhouse was open…quite unusual. She parted from Mike and started in that direction. Saying nothing, Mike followed her. When she stepped inside, she couldn’t believe what she saw. She was surprised and relieved at the same time. There in the cell, was Lily. She was lying very still curled in a ball on the cold floor. "Lily!" Mike rushed outside to inform the others and stop the search. Snow went over to the cell, but to her surprise, it was locked. Why was Lily locked in the jail? "Lily?" There was no response, she was still asleep. Just as Mike returned, Lily began to stir. It was obvious that the nightmares had begun again. "Lily!" Snow tried to no avail to wake her sister. She watched with too much familiarity at her sister suffering from that horrible night all over again…the kicking and screaming. She and Mike both tried to wake her, yelling and shaking the bars. Where was the blasted key? When no one’s in the cell, the key is always in the lock. But it wasn’t there now. Mike asked the men if any of them had locked Lily up for any reason the night before. No one knew a thing about it. So how did it happen? Did Lily lock herself up? All of the stirring caused Tom to come rushing into the jail, in spite of Mike’s efforts to keep everyone out. "Please get out, Tom. I know Lily would prefer that no one see her like this." Tom tried to push his way past Mike toward the cell, "No, Mike! I want to see her…see if she’s alright." "It’s just the nightmares again, Tom. You can talk to her when she wakes up!" Tom was mortified at Lily’s actions. He couldn’t bear to see his poor Lily relive such a frightening moment, "Look at her Mike! We have to do something! She’s likely to have a seizure or whatever ya call’em!" Mike continued to fight with Tom to get him out of the jail, "We’re trying…now please just go!" As Snow watched Lily, she noticed that the more Tom spoke, the less frightened Lily would appear to be, becoming more calm each time his voice was heard, "No, Tom wait. Mike, let him in…it couldn’t hurt." Snow tried to be casual, knowing that she was the only one who knew of Lily’s newly discovered feelings for Thomas. "Maybe another voice could help wake her up, since the two of us have already tried. Tom, say something to her…anything." Thomas swallowed as he stepped toward the cell. Now having the chance to speak to Lily, he hadn’t a clue as to what to say. She seemed a little quieter now, her yelling had turned to whimpers in her sleep…her kicking had now become just tossing and turning. "Lily, it’s Thomas. We’re here for you. We won’t let anyone hurt you. You’re safe, I promise. Please wake up, Lily…Lily?" Lily’s whimpers stopped…her writhing now ceased. Snow approached the cell on the other side of Tom, "Lily?" Snow joined him in trying to wake her. Her eyes fluttered, then opened slowly. The first things Lily saw were the iron bars, then she heard her sister’s voice. There was another voice there, too…it was Tom. Snow sighed in relief, "Lily, you’re awake! You had us so worried. How did you get locked up in the jail?" Still confused, Lily peered around at her surroundings. She’d only been in the jail once, and it certainly wasn’t because she was locked up. What happened? The last thing Lily remembered was going to sleep on some blankets on her sister’s cabin floor…not in the jail. Lily sat up and looked at the three staring at her, "I don’t know. I don’t remember how I got here." In not having her scarf, she raised her hand to brush her hair away from her face, but stopped as she felt something in her hand. "The key!" Tom sputtered as Lily opened her palm in surprise. "I—I don’t know how this got here. I don’t remember coming here." She stood and handed the key to Tom who proceeded to unlock the cell. Still a little uneasy, Mike caught Lily just before she stumbled back into the bars, "Perhaps you sleepwalked?" Lily looked at him in disbelief, as the idea triggered a memory in her thoughts, "Sleepwalked?".

The men helped Lily back to the cabin, then left she and Snow alone per Snow’s request. Lily’s thoughts were still on Mike’s words, "Snow, maybe I did sleepwalk. Years ago after the attack first happened, Anna said I began sleepwalking all the time. She’d find me in all sorts of places, and sometimes not at all. I’d have to wander my way back. It was very strange." Snow glided a brush through her sister’s hair, "Maybe you sleepwalked to the jail because you knew you could lock yourself in and be safer that way." Lily nodded as she stared into the fire, wondering where she may end up in the future. Snow began to wrap her hair into her gypsy scarf, "Maybe we should tie you down at night, eh?" Snow giggled, whereas Lily was not laughing, "No Snow, you’re right! I think maybe you should…at least tie a string between me and the bedpost." "Lily I was kidding! I’m not tying you down like some kind of animal! That’s absurd!" The sisters both chuckled at the thought. "Besides, let’s at least wait and see if it’s really a problem. Maybe it was just a one-time occurrence. Hmmm?"

The next morning, Snow was again startled by the disappearance of her sister. She and Mike headed straight to the jail…but Lily wasn’t there this time. As they walked to the main hut, they passed the woodshop where Thomas and Ivanhoe had risen early to get some work done. Ivan’s hands were still too sore to do much work, but he could still give Tom some additional instructions on metalworking. With the new contents the village had discovered from the crate, Travis has devised up some new plans for ‘solar power’ in the village. Ivanhoe thought it best to give Tom a head start on planning for the involved metalworking Travis mentioned was used in the process of obtaining the solar rays. "Tom, have you seen Lily? I think she’s still sleepwalking…she’s gone." A quick surge of panic went through Thomas at the thought of Lily disappearing again, "Did you look in the jail again." Mike shook his head while squeezing his wife’s hand, "She wasn’t there. It’s the first place we went." Snow quickly touched Mike’s arm, "Wait! I know of a place that she likes to go quite often. Come, we should try looking there!"

Neville was heading for the barn to bring the horses their breakfast oats. He wasn’t used to horses, but Duncan thought it would be a good idea if he got more accustomed to them, so that he could soon learn to ride one. He heard a ‘thumping’ sound as he walked. ‘Thump, thump, thump’. In looking around, he decided it must be coming from inside the barn. He opened the barn door, but everything looked normal…nothing strange here. "Neville!" He looked up in the direction of the voice…it was Lily up in the loft. Pleased to see her in such an unexpected manner, he grinned, "Lily…you’re up awfully early." She smiled weakly, "Um…I guess you could say that. Could you put the ladder back up for me?" That’s when Neville noticed that the ladder leading to the loft was lying on the barn floor. He picked it up and set it back up against the loft, "Oh Lily! Have you been trapped up there for very long?" Lily grabbed the ladder and checked that it was secure before she started down, "Well actually, I’m not exactly sure when I got here. I just awoke a little while ago up here and noticed the ladder lying down there, so I began thumping the wall with the pitchfork handle. I’m afraid I sleepwalked again." She sighed in exasperation as she headed down the ladder, "Why do I have to be so much trouble." In her frustration with herself, she slipped on one of the ladder rungs when Neville caught her in his arms just before she went crashing to the floor. Face to face again with Lily, Neville found it difficult to talk, "Lily, you’re no trouble. L-lots of people…um, sleepwalk." He felt the temptation again to kiss Lily, wondering if she would again run off like she did at the pond. Lily still dazed from her nightmares, stood frozen in Neville’s arms. The whole idea of Phillipe possibly being in the Willows had her so shaken up, she just wasn’t herself. In fact, she more afraid now than ever…not of Neville, just about everything. She wanted to move, to retreat from Neville’s grasp in a casual but friendly fashion, but it was like her legs wouldn’t move…she almost felt as if she were paralyzed. ‘Perhaps I should try this again’, was Neville’s thought as he leaned forward towards Lily’s lips. As the barn door flew open, Mike and Snow were surprised to find Lily in Neville’s arms…not quite as surprised, however, as Thomas as he felt his heart sink to the floor.

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"Lily, you’re here!" The sound of her sister’s voice broke Lily from her trance-like state, and she found the strength to casually move away from Neville, "Yes, I must have done it again…only this time, I sleepwalked up to the loft then managed to knock the ladder down. Neville finally heard my knocking on the wall and set it back up for me so I could get down. I was trapped up there!" "We really should mount that thing up there so that doesn’t happen." added Mike with an annoyed glance at the make-shift ladder. Lily hadn’t taken her eyes of Thomas since they came in. Being in the barn loft all night, Lily felt quite a chill. Her thoughts wandered to that night she was so cold, only to awake so warm in Tom’s arms. Why did she have such an urge to run into his arms now? Was she that cold? Finally, a shudder ran visibly through her and Mike approached her with his coat, "Lily, you must be freezing. Come on, let’s get you warmed up." As Mike and Snow took Lily away, Tom couldn’t help but have his thoughts wander to when he warmed Lily in his arms himself. He silently wished he could have a similar opportunity in the future. But he would never wish for Lily to fall into peril again, no matter how wonderful it was to be with her at the mill that night. "Strange thing, eh?" Thomas’ delightful memory was shattered by Neville’s sudden annoying question, to which he didn’t even fully comprehend, "What?" Neville started over to the oats he’d left by the barn door so he could resume his new chores, "Sleepwalking. Strange thing, eh?" Thomas sighed at the realization that it was plain mundane ‘small talk’ that had taken him from his thoughts of Lily, "Oh, yes. I guess it is." Without even glancing back at Neville, he turned and proceeded quickly back to the woodshop.

The men were pretty intrigued by this ‘solar power’ idea that Travis had been talking about, although not too many of them understood the concept. Perhaps the most excited about the whole thing was Stevie. To demonstrate the way solar power works, Travis and Stevie made a ‘solar powered car’. First, he had Stevie make a little wooden car with wheels. It was a plain car out of a thin piece of wood, and four wheels complete with axles made from wooden dowel rods. Travis hooked up two wires to the motor and solar cell to be sure they worked. When he waved the cell under the sun’s light, the motor turned. Bartolome’s jaw dropped…he’d never seen anything like it, "That’s incredible! That motor turns simply by using the sun’s rays?" Travis grinned proudly, "With the help of this solar cell panel, yes. Amazing, isn’t it?" With some string, Travis had Stevie tie the motor onto the car sideways, so that the pulley that spun would be out to the side between two wheels. Then Travis tied the underside metal clip of the solar cell panel to the top of the car and motor so that the panel was tight enough. Then he tied the elastic band to catch around the back wheel axle and motor pulley. Stevie’s eyes were wide with excitement as his gazed stayed glued to Travis’ every move. "OK, Stevie…let’s give it a go. Shall we?" He handed the car to Stevie who quickly set it on a flat board…a smooth surface to test it with. With the solar panel facing the sun, the motor turned the wheel axle, causing the car to speed off of the board and onto the dirt ground in front of the wood shop. "Oi, Travis! Did ya see ‘er? Did ya see ‘er go? She jus’ leapt off that plank, she did!" Travis chuckled, wearing the proud grin of five kings, "Yes, Stevie! I sure did! You got yourself a solar powered car, there. Fantastic stuff, eh? You know Stevie, when the weather warms up a bit, you can turn this into a solar powered boat, if you wanted to." Stevie blinked repeatedly and clutched his car like a schoolboy with a new toy, "Really? ‘Ow?" Travis took the car in his hands, "Well, first you make a boat out of a material that will float, then you make a ‘paddle fan’ of sorts that would act as a motor behind the boat to drive it. You’d mount the motor to the boat with the part that turns, or the ‘pulley’ here facing out behind the boat. Then you attach your paddle fan ‘motor’ to the pulley of this motor, like here where the elastic band is attached. On top of the boat, you’d mount your solar panel just like we have on the car with the wires still running to the motor…and presto! Your boat should run like a champ." Neville was nodding and smiling at this point, understanding clearly Travis’ instructions on making the motorboat, "Stevie, I can help ya make the boat. I’ve had lots of experience driving motorboats…even done repairs on some, too." Travis handed the car back to Stevie, still brimming with excitement, "Cor! Can’t wait til it warms up, then!" Karen walked up with general curiosity at what they were all standing around looking at, "What’s going on here…a testosterone meeting?" Stevie jumps over to where Karen is, holding his new toy in his hands, "Karen! We made a car that runs off the sun!! Look…" He set the car down and it began to move across the ground, regardless of the rough surface." Neville couldn’t help but add his observation, "Cool! Look at that! That’s pretty rough terrain! Man, that thing moves like a 4x4!" Karen gave Neville an eye of curiosity, but was still quite impressed by the men’s new toy. "That’s great, Stevie! Quite an impressive toy you’ve got there." Travis turned to her all ready with his new ‘sales pitch’, "Now I know what you’re thinking Karen, but solar power really does have many uses. For example, you can create a ‘make-shift’ cabin heating system if you will." Karen eyed him with curiosity, "If you ‘stove-pipe’ aluminum cans together, like the ones we found in Jenn’s truck, then next you paint them black and attach them to a vent in the cabin. Then the sun’s rays heat up the can piping and the heated air comes into the cabin via the vent." Karen nodded in thought as Travis continued his ‘pitch’, "But an ever better example would be a ‘solar oven’. Of course, they work better in the spring and summer months, but you can build one right into the surgery, for instance, and even sterilize water in it as well as cook with it." Karen thought with raised eyebrows, "Well it sounds pretty interesting. I just may take you up on that experiment." "Travis," Neville approached with the battery recharger in one hand and one of the solar cells in the other, "How would we hook up a solar panel to the battery recharger?" "Good question, Neville. It would probably be easier to work on that type of project at the mill. I thought I’d run an experiment with that generator, anyway. We’ll gather the stuff here and get it going before mealtime." As the band broke off from the demonstration, Neville couldn’t help but hear Raif’s yelling back at him, "Hey Neville! Be sure those rechargeable batteries run that boombox! I’d love to hear your new song. What was it called again…’Sweet Child O’ Mine’? Neville ignored the comment as he heard Raif and Nigel snickering on their way back to the hut.

Snow was watching Stevie happily maneuver his new car around the village. It was almost dinnertime and the sun was going down, causing the trees to befall many shadows onto the ground. When the solar car would hit a shady spot, of course it would stop, having no solar power to make it go. Stevie grinned at Snow, "Watch this Snow!" Stevie pulled a mirror shard from his pocket and used it to reflect the sun’s light onto the panel. Even in the shadows, the panel picked up the light from Stevie’s mirror and sent the car flying back into the sunshine. Snow clapped and cheered while Stevie smiled proudly, "Travis suggested tryin’ a mirror to reflect light to th’ car, see?" Snow squinted as she took a second look at the mirror shard in Stevie’s hand, "Stevie, can I see your mirror?" "Sure, but be careful. It’s sharp ‘cause it’s broke." Snow took the shard in her hand. It was a different shape than the one she had saved from Margurite’s shattered mirror at the mine. Ever since she got back with Lily, she hadn’t been able to find the shard she’d used to go through the mirror to retrieve Lily with. She assumed it fell out of her pocket during she and Lily’s escape from Margurite into the Willows. Without the mirror shard of a magic mirror, she knew no one would be able to go through the mirror back to her kingdom. However, they were able to come through to the Willows…or were they? Now Snow began to wonder if Phillipe and Margurite were really in the Willows after all. She was not very up to speed on her stepmother’s spells and witchcraft, but she remembered that she had to have a piece of the magic mirror to go through the mirror in the mine to get Lily. Then she remembered how she and Mike were pulled into the bathroom in the main hut months ago. How could that be? Margurite must have set that up somehow, had some way of making a normal mirror into a magic one…but how? She wondered if it might be in the spell book she gave Jenn. Or maybe…"Stevie, where did you get this?" Stevie shied at the question, as though he were ashamed at the answer, "Ya promise not ta get mad if’n I tell ya?" Snow gave him a puzzled look, "Yes, Stevie, I promise." "I—I found it in Natalie’s cabin. But she’s got a whole bunch more of ‘em!" Snow gasped in surprise, "Natalie’s?!" "Yeah, since she ain’t around right now, I didn’t think it’d be so bad to borrow it. I’ll return it—I swear." Snow immediately turned and ran to Natalie’s with Stevie following behind her. Upon entering her cabin, Stevie freely offered the answer to Snow’s question before she even asked it, "The mirror’s are over there." Stevie pointed to a basket of potpourri. "See, I accidentally knocked it over and tha’s when I saw ‘em." Snow dumped the potpourri onto Natalie’s nightstand. About a dozen pieces of a mirror poured out from the bottom. "Why would Natalie hide a broken mirror in the bottom of a basket of potpourri?" Snow picked up a few of the shards and inspected them. When she came to one in particular, she held her breath, then read aloud the inscription etched on the broken piece in her hand, "’Made especially for Margurite of the House of White by the Seven Dwarves of Jewel Mine.’ Stevie! These shards are from the mirror that shattered at the mine just before Christmas! Mike said he wanted to go after me in the mirror when I went to search for Lily, but I had the mirror shard with me. Ben said he buried all of the others, but when they dug them up, they were gone! They never knew what happened to them!" Stevie sputtered, "I remember that! It was just shortly after Natalie came to the Willows. Do you think she took ‘em, Snow?" Snow gathered all of the mirror pieces up into a handkerchief from Natalie’s nightstand. "Yes Stevie, I do. I think Natalie dug up those mirror pieces and hid them here." Stevie helped Snow scoop up the potpourri and put it back into the basket. "Bu’ why would Nat wanna keep Mike or th’ others from findin’ th’ mirror bits? D’ ya think she didn’t wan’ ya ta come back from your kingdom?" "No Stevie, I don’t think that’s it. Remember what Jenn and Karen said about what Natalie is." Stevie nodded, "Yeah, Karen called her a bi…" "No, I mean what she does. She’s a witch hunter. You know all the trouble Jenn has been having and all. It might have something to do with the fact that this mirror once belonged to a ‘witch’…namely my stepmother. I could be wrong, but it’s a possibility." "Wow! Wadda ya gonna do now, Snow?" Snow held the mirror pieces wrapped in the handkerchief in her hand as she started back to her cabin, "I’m locking these away from Natalie in case she does return." Stevie again gained that shyness in his walk beside her, as he seemed to want to say something, "What is it Stevie?" "Well, if it’d be alright that is, could I borra back that one mirror bit for me car ‘gain?" Snow giggled, "Yes, of course. Sorry about that. I just snatched that away from you, didn’t I? You can keep it Stevie. Just be sure to keep it in a safe place, OK?" Stevie beamed his usual boyish smile "OK!" She watched him race off to where his car sat waiting for him to drive it while there was still some sunshine left. "A very safe place, " Snow whispered to herself.

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While Travis tinkered with hooking up the solar cell to the battery recharger just outside the door of the mill, Neville was adjusting the boombox to the generator. Travis watched him sifting through the CD’s and then added with an annoyed tone, "Are you going to daydream all day, or are we going to work on this?" Quickly glancing back at Travis, he asked innocently, "What? What’d I do?" "It’s what you didn’t do Neville. But you could help me out here by passing me few of those panels. Let’s see if we can get this generator running solar by next winter!" He handed Neville the charger, "Here’s the recharger. It should work fine to charge batteries. Be sure it’s in the sun, remember. Test it on the rechargeable batteries in the boombox. I think they’re pretty much dead after Eddy accidentally left it on all night. The solar power won’t charge them as fast as electricity…but it will still work." Neville took the recharger and in turn passed him a few sheets of metal they stripped from the bed of Jenn’s truck. "What are you going to do with these, anyway?" Travis took one of the panels and held it next to a solar cell, "See, the aluminum panels capture the sun’s rays much like this solar panel. We’ll probably need some help from Ivan or Tom to weld the pieces together, but with some effort, we can probably utilize these panels to run the generator at the village instead of having it relying on waterpower here at the mill. It just may take some time to get it working. With the spool of wire in the crate we found, we’ll be able to wire things to the generator from a ways off…at least several feet, depending on how much wire we use. We just don’t want to waste it." Neville set the battery charger with the dead batteries out in the sun to charge for awhile. Travis spent the next few hours giving Neville lessons in ‘Physics 101’.

Lily didn’t eat a bite of her dinner and excused herself from the table. Snow didn’t have much of an appetite either for her bland ‘ulcer diet’ dinner, and accompanied Lily back to their cabin after whispering something briefly into Mike’s ear. As Snow was cheering up the fire, Lily went straight over to her neglected knitting and brought a ball of yarn over with her as she sat next to her sister by the fire. "Here. You have to tie me to the bedpost tonight Snow. If you don’t, I know I’ll sleepwalk again…I know it." Snow nodded sadly and took the yarn, "You know Lily, everyone’s been asking questions about why you have nightmares. It wasn’t difficult to brush it off in the beginning, but now…well, everyone is just worried about you, Lily." Lily brought her knees into her chest as she gazed into the fire’s warm flames, daring herself not to think of…well, just not to think. "I don’t know what to do, Snow." Snow took a deep breath knowing the issue she was about to bring up wasn’t going to be easy for Lily, "Well, Mike is going to tell everyone what happened." "What! No!" "Lily, the village needs to know…they’re your friends and they don’t understand what’s wrong. They just want to help." Lily nestled her chin into her knees and looked over at her shining new machete that Tom made for her as it leaned majestically against the fireplace. "I’m not so sure about some of their intentions…" Snow tutted, "I know who you’re thinking of…and believe me, they’re harmless…all of them. They’re just…oh, what is it that Karen calls it? ‘Wise-crackers’, that’s it! That’s all they are…but they’re harmless, really." Lily sighed and removed her scarf, allowing her hair to flow gently down to her shoulders, "So when is Mike going to tell them?" Snow paused for a second before offering, "Tonight, like…now." "NOW?!" "It’s for the best, Lily. Then you won’t have to worry about it anymore." Greatly annoyed Lily stood up, "No, I’ll just have to endure everyone’s looks of pity towards me instead…that’s all! I’d really like to get to sleep early, under the circumstances." Lily brought the ball of yarn to her sister, "Could you, please do the honors?"

"My God, Mike! I had no idea…poor Lily!" Neville was dumbfounded at Mike’s news about Lily, probably more so than the others. He had spent all that time with her and never knew…yet now it made so much sense! All the times she’d rush off never allowing him to hardly even hold her hand…no wonder! "So where is this ‘Captain’ bastard! Didn’t you say he came through that mirror? I say we hunt him down!" "Neville, we don’t know for a fact that he’s in the Willows, and we can’t just hunt him down like an animal." Karen nodded, agreeing with Mike. She’d had a suspicion as to what was bothering Lily, as did Yvonne judging from the types of nightmares she had. Duncan took a few steps closer to Mike at the front of the hut, "Mike’s right. It would endanger the village to go on some sort of manhunt…and for what? No, if this Captain is in the Willows, we’ll just have to wait for him to come to us. I would imagine the same would apply to Margurite." Eddy shuddered a bit at the thought. He didn’t like the idea of that witch popping up in the village again…ever since she’d taken a fancy to him months ago. Neville stood to his feet, "But then Lily is a sitting duck to this Phillipe guy, then!" Duncan shook his head, "No. Under the circumstances, Lily cannot be left alone…same rule that applies for all the women. It’s a matter of safety for all concerned." Karen muttered under her breath, "Well, that’s nothing new." Not hearing her words, Duncan continued, "Everything will remain the same. Escorts will be provided when anyone leaves the village and also moving around within the village, mainly at night. Lily may find comfort in having someone with her like Mike or her sister during the day as well, but especially at night." Duncan turned to Mike, "What about this sleepwalking problem?" Mike sadly offered, "Lily wants us to tie her to something at night." Thomas was appalled, "You’re going to tie her down like an animal?" "Lily suggested it herself. It’s really the only way…" "Under the circumstances, " Duncan interrupted, "I have to agree with Mike…it sounds like the best idea." "What about a gun?" The room fell silent as everyone turned to look at Nigel, "Well, if by some chance she comes in contact with this bastard, she may need one." Duncan nodded gently as he thought, "That would be up to Lily. Someone would have to teach her to use it, though." Nigel cleared his throat and smirked, "I’d be happy to volunteer." "Sod off, Ravens!" came Neville’s retort now realizing Nigel’s ulterior motive for suggesting a gun for Lily. "I can show her how to operate a gun," offered Mike. Nigel refrained from making a comment about Mike’s lack of expertise in shooting a gun. Still, he chuckled as he thought back to the time Mike almost shot himself in the foot just trying to kill a possum. Mike regained everyone’s attention with his next statement, "Please everyone. I know that the main thing Lily will worry about regarding everyone knowing about this is that she’s afraid everyone will treat her differently now. Please don’t do that…she doesn’t want that. She definitely doesn’t want to be pitied…I know that much. Just be her friends. That what she needs… that’s what we all need, right?" Stevie was casually rolling his car along the floor without the aid of the sun, "Oi! Why would we treat Lily any diff’rent? She’s still Lily…she’s still our friend. Right?" Duncan smiled at Stevie’s wise and true statement, "Well said Stevie. You’re exactly right."

When Snow awoke, she immediately felt as though something were wrong. Quickly she leaned over, and saw just what she had dreaded. Lily was gone…again. The yarn she’d tied Lily with lay draped across Lily’s blankets, untied. Snow also noticed as she glanced around the room for her sister, that Lily’s machete was gone as well. Suddenly, Snow felt sick. She sprang out of bed, outside, and around back of the cabin coughing and heaving up anything still left in her stomach. Mike had caught a glimpse of his wife’s quick exit and joined her outside, "Darling, are you alright?" Composing herself as if nothing had happened, "Yes…I just came out to call after Lily. She’s gone again, Mike. We have to do something." Mike nodded and proceeded inside after their coats. Snow spit into the bushes a few more times before returning back into the cabin. This ulcer can’t be acting up again so soon, can it? Snow thought to herself. She didn’t want to worry Mike with something else in addition to Lily, so she decided to keep her recent sickness to herself. Surely, with this bland diet she was on once again, it would pass quickly.

Thomas awoke that morning feeling unusually cramped in his single bed. Opening his eyes, he became more aware of his surroundings and could feel what was crowding him. Something was behind him pressed up against his back. Slowly, he turned over and swallowed hard at what he saw. Tightly curled up in a ball against him was a peacefully sleeping Lily.

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Afraid to even move, that he would wake her, Thomas sighed quietly as he watched Lily sleep. Gently, he brushed a strand of hair from her face, as he felt her soft skin beneath his touch. Then slowly, he lowered his head back onto his pillow next to hers. He knew he’d have to wake her eventually, and hoped she wasn’t frightened when he did. Tom knew exactly what happened. Lily sleepwalked here…to his very cabin…into his very bed. He pondered as to how he could have gotten so lucky…the loveliest morning surprise since waking with her in his arms that morning at the mill. He turned his face down toward the pillow where Lily’s hair flowed across it. It smelled wonderful…like a floral bouquet of perfumed shampoo. Her hands were cupped up by her face, like a sleeping child. Softly, he dared to trace his finger down her cheek to her hands. He was startled when she suddenly moved. In her slumber, Lily took his hand with hers and brought it up the pillow to her chin, then rested her cheek upon it. Such a sweet gesture it was, Tom found himself fighting back a tear in thinking of the unrest Lily usually suffers in her sleep, in her dreams. He didn’t have the heart to wake her from such a peaceful sleep as this. He brought his face to hers and kissed her forehead, then nuzzled her nose with his. He then observed Lily smile and sigh quietly, and wondered what dream she was having at that moment. It was obviously not a nightmare. Stirring in her sleep, Lily inched closer to Tom, nuzzling her face to his neck and touching her knees to his legs. He brushed his hand over her hair and down her arm, "You’re safe here Lily. I’d die before I’d let anyone hurt you." Gently, he rolled back slightly to be sure that Raif was still asleep. Being already on the edge of his small single bed, he lost his balance, rolling off the bed and hitting the floor with a ‘thump’. Lily woke at the sound as Thomas sat up, hoping she were still asleep. Her eyes were wide looking back at him. Raif still slept like a rock across the room. "Lily…um…you sleepwalked again. To here…you came here. But it’s OK…you’re safe." Tom felt like a blundering idiot not knowing what to convey to Lily that would keep her from being frightened. But Lily wasn’t frightened. At her realization of what had happened, she actually felt worse than frightened…she felt terribly embarrassed. Sitting up, she realized she sleepwalked into Tom’s own bed. How she got through the door…she didn’t know. And now as Tom rose to sit on the bed beside her, she wondered if she had kept him out of his own bed all night long? Had he slept on the floor all this time? She knew he was too kind to wake her and send her home. Poor Tom…he did! He slept on the floor all night long! How embarrassing, thought Lily! As she continued to look at Tom with wide eyes from embarrassment, Tom continued to stutter on, "Really Lily…it’s alright. Please don’t be scared. You’re safe here." Lily finally placed her face in her hands, "I’m not scared. I’m extremely embarrassed! I took over your bed all night, Thomas! I’m so sorry! This sleepwalking thing is just out of control! I have to do something about it." Quickly, without looking at Tom she stood up, feeling her face redden with embarrassment, "I can’t apologize enough. I’ll go now. Maybe Jennifer has something for this. It just has to stop!" She couldn’t even look Tom in the eyes as she quickly ran out of the cabin before Tom could even get a word out. There were so many things he wanted to say. He didn’t want her to go…he wanted to help her. And he didn’t mind her sleepwalking to his cabin. But he couldn’t possibly tell her how much he enjoyed waking next to her in his bed, now could he? He did, though…very much. To see her peacefully sleeping face, to see her breathing rise and fall in slumber…lazily, he sat back down onto his bed. His thoughts were interrupted by Raif stirring and waking. "What’s going on Tom? I thought I heard the door shut?" "You did. It was Lily." Raif shook himself awake a little more as he sat up, "Lily? What was she doing here?" "Leaving. She sleepwalked again." His roommate yawned and stretched, "So she ended up here? I wonder how she got in. Where did she sleep, the floor?" "No…my bed." Raif dropped his stretching arms in surprise, "Then where did you sleep?" "My bed," Tom offered casually, too lost in thought to care about appearances at the moment. Raif scanned Tom’s single bed, noting its small size just like his own. He sighed deeply and simply shook his head as he suddenly pondered if Natalie would ever return.

Lily ran back to Snow’s and Mike’s cabin with tears in her eyes. Why was she crying? Was she that embarrassed? Or was she more afraid of what Thomas would think of her now? Was he angry at her imposition? Did he think her totally insane for not only having violent nightmares, but also for sleepwalking to God knows where? How could she face him? Why does this keep happening…why does she keep ending up in embarrassing situations with Thomas? It just doesn’t seem fair. The one thing she couldn’t seem to shake from her mind though, was the fact that she didn’t have a nightmare that night. All the other nights…she did, whether she sleepwalked or not. The jail, the cabin…even the barn. Those poor horses! She spooked them terribly before finally waking up. But she didn’t have a nightmare last night…in fact, she remembered it was a very peaceful sleep. Lily couldn’t remember the last time she felt so rested. Why? It couldn’t just be because she was with Thomas…could it? That had to be a coincidence, wasn’t it? Why did she feel this way? And what exactly was it she was feeling? The cabin was empty as she entered. Mike and Snow must be looking for me, Lily thought. But just as she was about to leave the cabin, she noticed something that made her gasp in horror. Her machete…it was gone.

When Lily found Snow and Mike in the main hut, Lily apologized profusely, even though it wasn’t really her fault. Luckily, they hadn’t been searching for her for very long. Snow and Lily proceeded over to Jennifer’s to see if there may be anything she could give Lily to stop this. Right now it seemed that confiding in her sister was the only comfort that Lily could find in her crazy and confused world, "Snow, I lied when I said I sleepwalked to the woodshop. That isn’t really where I woke this morning. I’m sorry." Curiously, Snow turned to her on their way to Jennifer’s, "Where did you end up, then?" After a brief pause, Lily said quietly, "At Thomas and Raif’s." Snow was quite taken aback by her statement. To think her sister sleepwalked into a cabin shared by two men, when Lily is so uncomfortable around men, "Thomas and Raif’s? How very strange! That must have been quite a shock. What did you do?" "Well what could I do? I was terribly embarrassed waking up in Tom’s bed. And then when I saw him on the floor, I…" "You were in his bed?!" Lily paused shyly, "Well, yes…" Lily observed her sister’s mouth fly open at the thought, "…but he was very nice about the whole thing." "What did he say to you, Lily?" She sighed in frustration, "I was so embarrassed, I sort of just ran out of there. I can’t believe I ended up there…how humiliating!" Snow pondered a second and took a brief glance back toward Thomas’ cabin, "You know, it makes sense though…you sleepwalking to Thomas’. You’ve subconsciously been searching for a safe place in your sleep…like the jail or the barn. So obviously, you feel safe with Thomas." Lily looked at her sister in part amazement that she seems to have such an insight all of a sudden. The other part of her was just completely mortified at the whole situation. "Oh Snow. I don’t know what to do. I just…" As they reached Jenn’s cabin, Lily decided to save her confessions to her sister for later.

"Wait a minute! Lily told Snow and I that she ended up in the woodshop. You say she sleepwalked to YOUR cabin last night?" Mike turned to look at Raif in surprise. He nodded as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "Yep. She ended up right there in Tom’s bed. I think he’s a little shaken up about the whole thing. In fact to tell you the truth, I think Tom kind of fancies her. With what happened at the mill and everything…I would imagine that sort of thing might have an effect on ol’ Tom. He’s a pretty soft-hearted guy. It’s kind of funny that Lily wouldn’t tell you, though." Mike pondered that himself, "Yes, it is rather strange, isn’t it?" As Raif went back into the hut to engage in a game of cards with some of the other men, Mike brushed past the card game and headed outside to find his wife and sister-in-law.

Lily sat rubbing her fingers along one of the jail cell bars as her sister observed her with concern. She seemed so distant, lately. Finally, Lily managed to bring one of her thoughts out verbally, "I’ve always kind of liked this place." "The jail?" "Yeah. It’s gives you a safe feeling, you know? Kinda like you can lock up bad things in here and they won’t be able to get you, or you can lock yourself away from the bad things." Snow leaned her head against the cool bars, "That’s what you’d like to do, isn’t it? Lock up the bad things? Or would you rather be locked away from them?" Lily shrugged, then looked at Snow. She knew she wasn’t fooling her sister, and that Snow was just waiting for her to spill the rest of it. Where should she begin? What’s the best way to explain feelings that you can’t even understand yourself? "I didn’t have any nightmares last night, Snow. For the first time in a long time, I slept in peace. I can’t tell you how wonderful it felt to not wake up terrified…to not be shaking like a leaf or have my heart racing. And I can’t tell you why it happened." Snow inquired curiously, "Do you think it was because of Tom?" Lily sighed. She knew Snow would say that…she had the same thoughts, herself. "I don’t know. I wondered that, too. But what can I do? I can’t be sleepwalking like this forever…and I surely can’t repeat last night. I was so embarrassed this morning. How can I face him, Snow? I feel like such a…a child!" Snow grinned, "Do you really think he actually minded that you were there? You know, most guys would jump at the chance to have a girl climb into bed with them unexpectedly." Snow couldn’t help but giggle as she spoke. "Yes, but Snow, I took over his bed. He was on the floor, the poor thing!" Snow looked into Lily’s eyes, eager to find the true meaning hidden somewhere in this whole charade, "Were you afraid?" "What?" "Were you afraid when you woke? Just a short while back, you’d have been petrified to wake in a man’s bed." Lily thought about this. Was she afraid? "No, not at all. I was just embarrassed, terribly." "Are you going to tell Thomas how you feel…about him?" Lily’s head snapped up suddenly, "No! I couldn’t do that! "Why not?" "B-because I-I don’t know how he feels at all…about me, about anything." "But you told me that he kissed you at the mill…you remembered that finally." "Yes." "Well, don’t you think that might mean something? I think you may want to confront that issue. What if he feels the same way about you, and you two don’t even know it?" "But I…" Lily stopped and sighed, considering the logic in Snow’s words. She couldn’t think what to say. "Lily, I don’t know how you’d work it, but maybe you could consider staying with Thomas…perhaps even in the main hut. If it will help ease the nightmares or stop your sleepwalking, maybe…" Lily didn’t let her finish, "Oh no! I couldn’t do that! That would just be too strange…and besides it would be more like a, like a ‘pity thing’ than anything else." "A ‘pity thing’? Lily what do you mean? Thomas doesn’t pity you, He…" "No, not now Snow…please! Not with, with ‘him’ possibly in the Willows. I just… I shouldn’t be around the men…except for Mike. You know? I just need time to get this thing over…under control." Snow told Lily of her discovery at Natalie’s the other day regarding the mirror pieces and also of her theory that Margurite may not be in the Willows at all…nor Phillipe for that matter. Since they had not yet seen any signs of the intruders, Snow didn’t think they could get through without a piece of another magic mirror. "So I really don’t think you have to worry anymore." Lily pondered Snow’s theory, thinking it almost too good to be true. But it still made sense. She really did hope that was the case and that the Willows was safe from these intruders. "But I still need some time before trying to speak to Thomas, OK?" Snow smiled at her sister, even though she didn’t understand Lily’s independent way of thinking. Where Snow would choose to run into her precious Mike’s safe and understanding arms, Lily chose to deal with her fears on her own. ‘What a strange sister I have’, thought Snow, but that just made her love Lily all the more.

The next day, Lily thankfully awoke in Mike and Snow’s cabin, and nowhere else. After insisting that Snow handcuff her to the leg of the bed so she wouldn’t sleepwalk, the technique seemed to work rather well. Lily wasn’t taking any chances of sleepwalking into another embarrassing situation again. She also decided on a change of appearance. She thought she’d be daring and let her hair down for a change. Rolling the bottom of her hair in strips of material overnight, the ends emerged that morning in curled locks. She liked the look, but wondered if anyone would notice, frankly. Lily was still very perplexed regarding the whereabouts of her machete. So, she thought she’d take her ‘new look’ to the woodshop to see if perhaps by some chance she sleepwalked with it to Thomas’ cabin the night before. Approaching the shop, she saw no one…no signs that anyone had come in yet that morning. Quickly, her eyes were suddenly covered from someone behind her. She smiled, recognizing this as Stevie’s usual greeting. "Stevie, well good morning to you, too!" The hands moved her head back and forth as if to say ’no’…it wasn’t Stevie. Her heart lept at the thought of it being Tom, but then she swallowed in nervousness when she remembered waking in his bed and then just running off. "Oh, well Thomas…I was just coming to speak with you." Again the hands moved her head side to side to say, ‘no’. "Neville, is that you?" Again, the hands said ‘no’. By this time Lily was fairly alarmed and decided to try to ‘feel out’ the hidden identity of this person. She felt along the arms where there were long sleeves, then reached back to pat along the person’s side…when her fingers tapped along something solid. She grasped her hand to touch the object…it was a sword on a belt. Why would anyone in the village be wearing a sword, when they now have those things called ‘guns’? Quickly, as if a surge of adrenaline ran through her veins, she shuddered with a sudden fear. Before she could act on it, the hands released from covering her eyes and she felt a shooting pain throughout her head. She realized the stranger had tightly clutched her hair in his grasp. Her new curled style that she’d intended on trying on Thomas was now being used against her. As the grasping hand yanked her head around to face her present captor, she felt herself staring into the cold familiar eyes of her previous assailant …Phillipe Carver.

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"Good morning Princess. I didn’t get a chance to tell you goodnight, last night. You and Lily were already asleep when I came in. Sorry I took so long. I was giving Bart tips on preserving meat." Snow grinned as she had just brought in some fresh firewood, "Yes, you must have been out quite late…you overslept, you lazy bones!" Mike poked her with his elbow, then finished dressing, "You have seen Lily this morning, right? I mean…she didn’t sleepwalk right out of those handcuffs, did she?" "No," Snow giggled. "She wanted to go by the shop. She is still searching for that mach-, mach…whatever that thing is called." "Machete." "Yes, that’s it. She thought maybe she sleepwalked with it the other night and left it somewhere." Mike let out a large breath, "We should probably lock that thing up. It’s dangerous. She could have really hurt herself with it…or someone else." Mike looked over at Snow cheerfully adding wood to the fire. He had wanted to discuss something with her last night, but came in too late. He was concerned about why Lily didn’t tell the truth about where she woke up the night before. Why would she tell them she awoke at the woodshop if she really ended up at Thomas’? He thought surely she would have told Snow by now. "Darling, I’m a little worried about Lily." "Hmmm?" "Well, Raif told me she woke the other night at he and Thomas’, not the woodshop." Snow stopped and turned to look at Mike. He could read it in her eyes, "She told you, didn’t she, Snow?" "Mike, please don’t be mad at her. She was very embarrassed at what happened. She didn’t want anyone to jump to the wrong conclusions, and you know that’s already happened once. She didn’t mean to lie, really. She still feels strange about the whole thing, especially now." Snow’s voice trailed off as she looked back at the fire. "I’m not angry with Lily…I want to help her like you do. I just wish I knew a little more about what she was feeling." Snow sighed. Should she tell him? She’d never kept anything from Mike, and she really didn’t want to start now. "You can’t say anything about this…OK?" Mike could hear the seriousness in her tone. He sat down on the bed and patted it for her to join him, "I promise. Come and tell me what it is, sweetheart." Snow stood and came to sit by her husband. "That day when we went to the mine to see the puppies, the day we discovered the mirror standing…she told me something, something a little shocking coming from Lily. Actually, it was rather encouraging, but shocking since Lily is so uncomfortable around men." "She’s getting better about that, though." Mike added. "Yes, she is…which may attribute to her recent discovery, so to speak. That night when she fell through the ice and Thomas saved her, she didn’t remember anything…that is, until the other day. She was skating with Neville and he kissed her." Mike’s eyebrows raised, "That was pretty bold of him wasn’t it?" "Yes, especially for Lily…but the strange thing is instead of her retreating, as even she would tell you that’s what she normally does, it triggered a memory for her. She said in her groggy state she remembered that Thomas kissed her that night at the mill." "He did?" Mike tutted, "These guys just don’t realize about Lily…" Snow interjected, "But that was before we let everyone know…remember?" Mike nodded as Snow continued. "It’s alright because she told me that when Neville kissed her, she remembered what happened that night with Thomas…she remembered that he kissed her. She said something really touched her about that night, that he was very kind and gentle with her. Mike, she told me that she thought she was falling for him." "For Tom?!" Snow nodded. Mike stood and paced to the other side of the room and chuckled. "This is really incredible!" "Yes, and that is the main reason why she was so embarrassed to wake up at Thomas’. She’s been sleepwalking to locations that she feels safe in. She said the night she woke up there, she didn’t have a nightmare at all…she feels safe with Tom. But she doesn’t want to tell him." "Why not?" "I don’t know. She says that there is just too much going on with the mirror and Phillipe possibly being in the Willows and everything. Which never fails to remind me of wrong I was in my stupid theory that Phillipe and Margurite weren’t in the Willows in the first place. Next time I have a theory, Mike, please remind me to keep it to myself." Mike came back to sit beside her, "It’s not your fault…you know that. And regarding Tom, Lily really should talk to him. You see, when you and I found them there at the mill and I took Tom outside to speak with him…" Snow giggled, "You mean ‘dragged’ him!" "OK…I ‘dragged’ Tom outside to speak with him. But he confirmed a suspicion of mine I’d had for a long time. He really has feelings for Lily. And now you tell me that Lily does, too." Snow gasped smiling, "Oh Mike! You suppose they’re in love?" "I don’t know…it hasn’t been very long that Lily has been here, but it sounds like they’re headed in that direction." "But Lily won’t tell him…they’ll never know of their feelings for each other. What should we do?" Mike took Snow’s hand and rubbed her fingers in thought for a moment, "Well, I’ve always believed that love should be allowed to work itself out without any outside interference. I think we should let them alone and see how things progress. I’m willing to bet that they find each other…and when they do, it will be in their own special way. What do you think?" Snow smiled, "I think that sounds very romantic. I wouldn’t expect anything less from my Prince." Mike smiled with a gleam in his eye, "You know, I can’t remember how long it’s been since we’ve been alone." He put his arm around her as she squeezed his hand, "Well, how long ago did Lily come and stay with us again?" Growing weary of talking, Mike leaned in and began kissing her neck, "However long it’s been, it’s simply too long." Mike brought his kisses from her neck up to her rosy full lips. Slowly, he lowered her down onto the bed. Responding to his kiss, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Suddenly, she gasped. Mike parted from their kiss to see her staring wide-eyed up at him. "What is it, Princess?" Snow quickly sat up, "I don’t know. I just suddenly felt this terrible fear…I can’t explain it." Snow shook her head, "Oh Mike, it must be Lily! There’s something wrong! I felt those chills when she went through the icy water. It’s that same feeling, Mike. There’s something wrong with Lily!"

Lily froze, unable to breathe or move. The pounding of her heart in her chest seemed so insignificant, she thought it had stopped. Through all of the previous years, it seemed as if time had stood still for him…the same cold eyes and evil, chilling smirk. His uniform was the same as when she saw it that day she was going to visit the palace…the day she then ran away when she saw him. Now, here she was…helpless within his grasp once more. It was like she were fourteen all over again. This had to be one of her nightmares…it was too horrible not to be. She tried to will herself awake. This time, she actually hoped she’d sleepwalked to Thomas’ again. She desperately wanted to open her eyes and see him there next to her, smiling at her, protecting her. "I thought I recognized you from afar. Now that I see you so close…" he pulled Lily in closer to him, "I know for certain that it is you." His sudden laugh pierced through Lily’s soul until she thought her insides would explode. The pressure she felt in her chest turned out to be the breath she’d been holding, unable to release it. She wanted to use it…use it to scream, to cry, anything. But it was no use…all of her captured air came out only in the form of a soft scared whimper, causing Phillipe to laugh all the harder at the frightened girl. "We’ve waited a long time to see each other again, haven’t we little gypsy?" The Captain bent his face closer to Lily’s as though he might kiss her. Lily thought she would vomit, in fact she hoped she did. This was perhaps her only defense at the moment. Suddenly, Phillipe’s grasp on her hair loosened and Lily pulled away, hurling toward the ground. Turning around, she witnessed Neville fighting Phillipe with a pitchfork, apparently the only tool in his possession at the time he witnessed the stranger’s hold on Lily from across the way at the barn. The Captain had drawn his sword, and Neville was attempting to merely block his strikes at him with the wooden handle. Holding the fork’s handle straight in front of him, he managed to upper-cut Phillipe under the chin just before ducking a strong sweep of the sword, then losing his footing. Standing quickly, he observed Phillipe rushing into the woods. As Lily watched the source of all of her fear and nightly torture escaping into the trees, she felt a soft and reassuring hand on her shoulder. As she looked up into the familiar face of her handsome acquaintance, she quickly broke down, sobbing violently into Neville’s chest. Rushing to the shop in time to see the Captain fleeing and Lily’s new hero, was none other than Thomas. Quickly following behind was Snow, Mike, Bart and Karen. Mike quickly went over to Lily and Neville, while Bart ran back to the hut to warn Duncan and the others of their newest intruder. "I want a gun!" came Lily’s sudden shrieking demand, "I want a gun! Oh God!" It took both Mike and Neville to help Lily up. She appeared almost inconsolable, her breathing was very irregular through her sobbing and Mike was concerned she would hyperventilate again. Once standing, Lily gasped as she looked down at her hand. It was covered in blood. Karen spouted quickly, "Neville, you’re bleeding!" Neville looked at his arm just above the elbow. He touched the torn fabric lying atop the large gash in his flesh. It appeared that he didn’t escape Phillipe’s sharp blade after all. "We should get you both to surgery." Karen grabbed Neville, inspecting his wound as they made their way over to the surgery. Mike assisted the wobbly Lily behind them. Thomas stood dumbfounded, yet cursing himself for not being at the shop earlier that morning. Because of his laziness, Lily was frantic and Neville was hurt. It also occurred to him that Neville was now the ‘hero’ of the situation, even being injured in the rescue. He sighed as he watched Mike and Snow take Lily away, then ventured to think how lovely her curled hair in fact looked that day.

Lily was still trembling as she sat in a chair in the corner watching Karen dress Neville’s arm. Mike stood next to her concerned at her shivering, "Lily, why don’t you go and lie down. You could use some rest." Lily vigorously shook her head never taking her eyes off Neville. She didn’t want to go anywhere. If Neville hadn’t come when he did, God knows what would have happened. And now he’s hurt…all to save her. That bastard is now around their village and obviously after her again. What now? Duncan. She had to see Duncan. She was not going anywhere without a gun from now on. And where was that blasted machete? No matter…she would obtain a gun and then just need to get someone to show her how to shoot the thing. "Cor! That stings!" "I have to sterilize this Neville, or it could get infected. The worst part’s almost over. It’s good that it’s a clean cut and not one from a jagged edge. It will heal faster that way." As Karen wrapped a clean bandage around his arm, Neville’s eyes traveled to Lily. She was sitting in the corner of the room watching the first aid take place. Poor thing, thought Neville. She looks like a frightened little girl. The worst thing that could have possibly happened has. She can’t be left alone. Neville’s rationale was since Lily now needed an escort at all times, he’d be happy to volunteer.

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 Chapter Sixty Nine - "The Scream"

That scream. It echoed through to her very being. If Lily had not know it was Karen’s, she’d swear it were her very own. Her own unheard screams that day in the woods when her life fell apart years ago. The scream she tried to give yesterday when Phillipe clutched at her hair, but nothing would come out of her mouth. Lily watched helpless as Karen’s battered and terrified form quivered in Jennifer’s arms. The memory suddenly washed over Lily and she began quivering as well. She saw the attack, she winced from the cruelty, she heard her own screaming, and felt the fear and the pain all over again…just by looking into Karen’s eyes. After breathing life into her new friend, her strong friend who’d endured so much…when Karen took that first breath on her own, it was the look in her eyes rather than the painful scream that spoke volumes. Lily could see it all as she experienced it herself…the humiliation, the pain, the hopelessness, but most of all—the fear. A fear that pierced into the very depths of her soul, even years after the attack. She saw all of these same things in that one look in Karen’s eyes. What could she do? What will the village do? Karen’s assailant was a member of their own village. Lily looked to Nigel’s lifeless form lying on the barn floor. At least he’d be out for a while, not only from the swift blow to the head, but more from the excess of alcohol he’d consumed. If Dinger had been alive to witness this event, surely Nigel would be dead right now…or at least seriously wounded, thought Lily. Suddenly, Lily felt a hand on her shoulder…it was Snow. Snow reached out and wiped the tears from Lily’s eyes. What could she say? She could see the terror in Lily’s face alone. It was obvious what she was thinking. Slowly, Mike and Snow helped Lily to her feet. As they tried to lead her out, she protested, "No, please. I’d rather go with Karen, just to be sure she’s alright. I know what she’s going through." Snow smiled and Mike rubbed her arm. As she wiped the tears from her own face, Lily kneeled down next to Jennifer and the trembling figure. With Karen’s face pressed firmly against Jennifer, Lily gently rested her head upon Karen’s back and wept with her friend.

The gun felt heavy in Lily’s hands, but not too heavy. Neville stood nearby against a tree watching Travis as he gave her lessons on how to shoot the thing. "Hold it with both hands and be sure to have the proper stance. This thing can give you quite a kickback." Travis came behind Lily and put his hands upon her hips to try and guide her stance. He glanced over at the tree to find Neville glaring at him, upon which he let her go and simply demonstrated the stance himself. Lily hadn’t even noticed Travis’ harmless gesture. She was strictly focused on learning to use the weapon in her hand, and use it well. After about an hour, Travis felt that she could probably handle herself OK. Unfortunately, since they didn’t have an unlimited supply of ammunition, very much target practice was out of the question. "Remember Lily, guns are very dangerous. You should keep them unloaded except in an emergency. They have a tendency to go off sometimes…you just never know. Here, I’ll put one bullet in this. I’d like to see how your aim is, just in case." Travis loaded one bullet into the gun. He hadn’t been terribly comfortable with guns in the past, but had become more accustomed to them while he’d been here in the village and had learned to use one properly. He handed the gun back to Lily. "Try this. How bout aiming for that woodpile over there?" Lily held the gun out in front of her, taking careful aim at the woodpile. ‘Pow!’ Her aim was off a little, hitting a nearby tree instead. Lily sighed in defeat as Travis chuckled, "Don’t worry, Lily. You scare someone off at least. May be we can get you some additional ammo to practice with under the circumstances.

Thomas had pretty much kept to himself most of the day. Now that Neville had taken on the position of "escort" for Lily for the time being, he figured he wouldn’t get to see her much. ‘Just as well’, Thomas thought. He should probably try to think of her less often, since Neville had taken such a fancy to her. "Thomas, I’m glad you’re here." Tom looked up to see the two very people he’d just been thinking of…one he enjoyed seeing more than the other. Lily’s curls now flowed softly into gentle waves that brushed against her cheeks and wisped about her neck…a sight that Thomas had to concentrate to not stare upon. In her hands was a black revolver…something Tom wasn’t used to associating with the traditional gypsy girl. "Thomas…I was wondering who in the village was good with leatherwork? I’d like to get something made to fit this for me…something not too bulky. Any ideas?" Tom looked over at Neville, who appeared to be grinning cheerfully…no doubt at the opportunity he so generously bestowed upon himself to escort Lily around the village. Before he revealed his thoughts with a sour facial expression, Tom looked back at Lily, "Well, Ribold is actually quite good at that sort of thing. You might give him a holler." "Thank you Thomas!" With a friendly tilt of her head to one side, Lily gave Tom that giddy boyish feeling with her childlike smile as she and Neville headed off to talk to Ribold.

Duncan, Raif and Edward were discussing the present situation with Phillipe in the main hut. Eddy took a deep breath, "Duncan, if that Captain is here, you know that witch Margurite is lurking around as well…a thought that doesn’t settle too well with me. Remember, I almost became her ‘royal slave’ forever a few months back." Eddy shuddered as Raif stifled a chuckle at the thought. "We have to think about this one." Duncan began, "Why would Natalie want to sabotage the mirror and allow Margurite in? We’ve established that she is a witch hunter and as a result had been giving Jennifer problems." "That’s an understatement," added Raif. "So is that it? Did she just do this because she’s trying to prove herself as a witch hunter? I would think she was already trying to make that point with Jennifer. I believe that there may be more going on here than we know about." "Like what?" Eddy’s concerned tone conveyed to Duncan that he was still worried about Snow and Lily’s stepmother. "And what about Phillipe?" The men turned to see Neville coming into the hut in time to catch a sentence or two of their conversation. "He struck before Margurite if she’s even here. I think we need to concentrate on him first. He’s the one making the trouble for Lily right now." "We’re trying to cover all issues, Neville. Don’t worry. Where is Lily, by the way?" Neville approached their British leader and took a seat next to him, "She’s at Yvonne’s. She said she wanted to rest without bothering Mike and Snow for a while." Raif leaned over to Eddy out of Neville’s earshot, "I think she was trying to get rid of him." Eddy’s snickering didn’t go unnoticed by Neville as he wondered what they were saying about him this time.

"This is such a surprise. I’d never guessed that I would come home to such a thoughtful gift, Ritch. Thank you." Lily looked back inside to the bed rails Ritchie had added to her bed. "I didn’t know when ya’d be comin’ back you your cabin, but I thought it’d be nice to have it ready for ya. I hope they help ya." Lily gave an uneasy smile at the sudden remembrance that the Captain was still lurking about, "Me, too, Ritch. I surely don’t need to be wandering about at night with…, well I just don’t." Sighing to change the subject, "So, is there any particular color you’d like me to make that blanket out of for Kahlua? If I recall, Jenn brought back a few different colors of those fleeces." Ritchie reminisced in thought back to all of Kahlua’s favorite outfits, as if he could see her wearing each and every one of them right then and there, "Well, I know she likes red. So I guess, maybe if ya can find a color close ta red as ya can." "Done! She’ll be snug and toasty warm when she gets back." Lily spouted with a cheerful reply in an attempt to ward off any doubts or unhappy thoughts in Ritchie’s head at that moment. Ritchie’s weighed mind seemed to lift somewhat at Lily’s positive outlook on Kahlua’s return. He was so tired of everyone else’s negativity, and it was nice for a change to speak with someone who shared his optimism on Kahlua’s coming back. "Ya know Lily I wanted ta…well, I mean I’ve been meaning ta, that is if you’re up ta talking ‘bout it, that is." Lily observed Ritch shifting from foot to foot in an obvious apprehension in bringing up the subject, "What is it, Ritch?" Ritchie leaned back against the doorframe as he looked out to the mountains. It’s not like their peaks would give him a head start on how to breech the subject, but at least they were a nice distraction. "Before I came ‘ere ta the Willows, I was a boxer…ya know that much. I was in trainin’ all the time runnin’ and doing the punchin’ bag and what ‘ave ya, right?" Lily nodded politely. "Well, me trainer would give me these massages that would help the muscles to stay loosened up. Sometimes fightin’ can get ya all tensed up and ya need a good workin’ out of those muscles, ya know? Well, it was always me trainer who does my massages…he’s the only one. So one day there was this woman who got attacked at the massage parlor while she was givin’ a guy a massage. They…well, they blamed me for it, Lily." Lily’s smile faded at Ritchie’s words and she swallowed hard. Her expression didn’t go unnoticed by Ritch, "But I didn’t do it…I swear I wasn’t even there! I tried to talk to the girl, but she just ran off. Come to find out later, that the guy who did was her husband. Her own husband! It’s actually kind of a long story, but the guy was jus’ plain trouble. She didn’t want to blame him, though, cause she said she loved him…so she just picked me outta the line-up. I could never do nothin’ like that, Lily…never. It killed me for someone to falsely accuse me of that—of hurtin’ a woman that way." Again he started shifting his weight from foot to foot. "All my friends, my family readin’ ‘bout it in the papers…my trainer, the guys at the gym. How’d they know I didn’t do it? It was my word against hers, right? Even though she loved the guy, you could see the pain in her eyes. I just couldn’t believe someone would do that to their own wife! I wanted to help her out, but she wouldn’t let me. She just stayed pretty shut-off from everyone." He shrugged, "But I’ve just been wantin’ ta tell ya that, Lily. Not that I think bein’ accused of rape is just as bad as…well, nothin’ like that, but…" Ritch shook his head and looked down at the wood planks on the porch, not finding the actual words he wanted to convey to Lily. Lily smiled and took Ritchie’s hand. Startled, Ritch looked up, then smiled back. She believed him. And Lily was pleased that in Ritchie’s own way, he was trying to convey his empathy with Lily…not pity, but a connection with her almost. Anything to just say that he understood her pain, but just from another perspective. Lily appreciated that from him, and knew that his telling this story was difficult for him…just like the difficulty she had in telling hers. Ritch suddenly pulled the string with the whistle off of his neck and placed it into Lily’s hand. "Here. It’s for emergencies. We ran out jus’ ‘fore you and Neville came." Without words, Lily squeezed his hand in reply, smiling. With a friendly wink, he then turned and headed back to his cabin.

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Lily had told Snow that she’d like to go and visit Karen along with Jennifer. Maybe today, she’d be up to talking. Even if she wasn’t, Lily wanted to show her support for her new friend…one whom she’d like to get to know better. It had been a beautiful day. The weather seemed to be finally warming up. There was still snow on the ground, but it was melting fairly quickly. Dusk was approaching. Snow was feeling a little more tired than usual, so she decided to retire to her cabin early to rest for a bit. Perhaps she’d feel more energized in the morning. Snow thought that tomorrow would probably be a beautiful day for a walk in the woods with the man she adored so. Thinking of her husband cleaning in the kitchen, she missed him. With Lily staying with them recently, finding time to spend with Mike had been difficult. As Snow entered her cabin, she suddenly found herself being yanked across the room barely as the door shut behind her. Without a word, Mike was smothering her with kisses. Snow giggled and submitted helplessly into his embrace. Mike brushed back her hair as he kissed her neck, "I finally have you to myself, little Snow. I’ve missed you so much." He took her face in his hands as she smiled at him warmly, "You know I love your sister, and I haven’t minded her staying here, really. But it’s not a ‘harem’ I want…it’s just you, Snow." He gently kissed her forehead, slowly bringing his kisses down her face, "Any word on when she’ll be moving back in with Yvonne? I’m sure Yvonne’s getting lonely, anyway." He noticed his wife’s raised eyebrows at his statement, "Alright, well maybe she isn’t…but I know I am." Suddenly gaining a second wind of energy, Snow smiled sweetly as she bit her lip, "Hmmm…well I will definitely bring up the subject next time I see her, but…" she took Mike’s hands and slowly pulled him toward their bed, "…right now she’s actually over talking with Karen and Jennifer." Mike could almost feel butterflies in his stomach. He silently hoped that they talked a very long time. The last time he and Snow were alone, Snow wasn’t feeling too well. Her ulcer had been acting up again. Poor timing, Mike had thought, as Lily had gone to rest at Yvonne’s that day, and it was such a wonderful opportunity. But now it seemed that Snow was feeling just fine…her skin seemed to radiate her happiness. Snow reached her arms around his neck and kissed him lovingly. Pulling back, she smiled mischievously and with a swift shove, she pushed Mike down onto the bed. Mike was flabbergasted, but pleasantly surprised at his wife’s most unusual actions. In fact, she’d never done anything like this before…he was utterly speechless. Giggling, she quickly straddled Mike, pinning his arms to the bed, "OK, Prince. I’m a witch and I’ve got you trapped under my spell! You’re my slave forever!" It didn’t take Mike long to get into this game…not long at all, "But I thought it was Eddy you wanted? You just had me pinned to the wall down at the mine that day to keep me out of your way." Snow gave a fake witches’ laugh and pressed her face closer to his, "Aha! But that’s just what I wanted you to think! When in reality, it was YOU I was after, dear!" Snow released his arms slowly and instead softly clutched his face, "So now that I have you under my spell, you’re helpless under my power." Then she whispered softly, "You’re all mine now Prince." Mike wrapped his arms around her, "Then what choice do I have but to submit?" Then he pulled her down into a passionate kiss. Just as Mike reached down to unbutton Snow’s dress, they heard voices outside. "Thank you again, Neville. I know you must grow tired of having to escort me around the village wherever I go." Quickly, Snow bounded off of Mike and the bed, losing her footing and crashing to the floor. "Nonsense Lily. Anytime! I enjoy just being with you." As Lily opened the door to the cabin, Mike was assisting Snow up off the floor. "Are you alright?" Flustered and quickly blushing, Snow sputtered, "Yes, I…I just slipped is all." Lily walked over to hang up her coat, "Karen wanted to be alone this evening, so Jennifer and I obliged her. I can certainly understand that." Mike gave a heavy sigh and went over to start some tea for the three of them. Lily was not a totally ignorant girl…she could sense what she had walked in on. She’d been feeling guilty for keeping Snow and Mike apart, and now walking in on them like this, the feeling had been escalated. However, she didn’t want to embarrass the couple or make them feel guilty themselves, either. Lily plopped down into the chair by the fire. "Ritchie bestowed a lovely gift upon me yesterday. I think I forgot to mention it. He made me some bed rails to try and curtail my sleepwalking. Wasn’t that sweet?" She’d gotten Mike’s attention with this. "You know…I’ve been thinking. Since Neville is so kind to be with me throughout the village and Yvonne is usually with me inside my cabin, I think it’d be OK for me to move back, now. Besides, Ritch was so nice to make those bed rails for me, the least I can do is use them." Snow put her hand on Lily’s shoulder, "Are you sure Lily? You won’t be too frightened with him still around?" Mike didn’t say a word, and chose to turn back to making their tea so as not to show any expression of celebration…an expression he could not help but feel. Lily smiled and put her hand on Snow’s, "Yes, I’m sure. With so many friends in the village, I’ll be alright." Lily was able to give a convincing smile to her sister in spite of the fear she still felt. This was something she needed to learn to deal with on her own. It wasn’t fair of her to place her burdens on her sister and brother-in-law, thought Lily. She sighed with a hint of ‘swooning’ in her voice, "Oh Snow, it’s nice to not have a ‘shadow’. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s very kind what Neville is doing, but it does gets tiresome having someone following you around like a puppy all the time, you know?" Mike chuckled and was about to bring up Snow’s previous shadow named ‘Stevie’, when his wife with an all knowing look shushed him. "You know, Lily…Neville still fancies you. That’s why he acts like a puppy around you. And now, I think it’s worse…he feels as though it’s his mission in life to protect you, I think." Snow giggled. Lily smirked and looked at her, "Yes, I know. I suppose I should just give in and allow him to court me. After all, he did save me from…" she quickly shook off the disturbing thought. "Well besides, I don’t think he’ll ever give up." Snow gave a quick look to Mike as they practically exchanged thoughts about Lily and Thomas. With Mike in the room, Snow couldn’t say much about it to Lily, as Mike wasn’t supposed to know how Lily felt about Tom. Sensing a ‘girl talk’ in the works, Mike felt that it was his cue to leave so his wife could have a chat with her sister. "Well, I’m going to go and make sure everything is shut up tight in the kitchen, and make sure those traps are set." "Traps?" Snow inquired with curiosity. Lily gave Mike a quick glance as it suddenly dawned on Mike that Snow didn’t know anything about the rats they’d eaten. "Um, yes, you know…so we don’t have any critters in our food stores." "Oh, good." Snow shuddered at the thought of "critters in their food stores" as Mike quickly headed out the door before letting something else slip. Snow watched as the door closed behind her husband, remembering what they discussed the other day regarding Lily and Thomas discovering their feelings for each other on their own. Snow sighed in thinking how much more difficult that would be if Lily were to start seeing Neville more seriously. She turned back to her sister, "So, you’re considering seeing Neville in a more serious way, then?" Lily nodded thoughtfully. "He’s a very handsome fellow, and he’s very kind." Snow added quickly, "But what about Thomas?" Lily blinked but tried not to show any emotion towards Snow’s words, "What about him?" "Well, I know how you feel about him." Lily then offered casually, "Well, perhaps it would be best if Tom and I just remained good friends. I’m sure I could be just as fond of Neville if I just spent some more time with him. He’s very sweet." "He’s practically glued to your hip! How can you say you need to spend more time with him? Lily, are you sure you aren’t doing this because you feel obligated to, after he saved you from Phillipe?" Lily shuddered at the name…almost as if it were the devil himself. "Snow, of course not. I’m quite fond of Neville and feel comfortable in his presence…unlike Nigel." Snow tutted, "Well, obviously! No one feels comfortable around Nigel right now…not even Betty I would imagine!" The girls laughed. Lily had told Snow about overhearing Kahlua and Jenn discussing ‘Betty’ one day. The sisters then vowed someday to go and check her out themselves. Snow was glad to see that her remark had lightened the moment. Still, it bothered her to see Lily consciously pushing her feelings for Thomas aside when she knew that he felt the same. It was just eating away at Snow to think that she couldn’t just tell Lily what Mike told her. But she remembered Mike’s words that he thought it would be better for them to discover each other on their own. But at this rate, Snow wondered if they ever would. Lately, with Neville escorting Lily around, she noticed Tom had been making more of an effort to not be around them. Surely, it was because it was slightly painful for him to see Lily with Neville all the time knowing that Neville fancied her so. Just thinking about the situation made Snow’s stomach churn. ‘God…here I go again’, Snow thought. "Excuse me." Snow jumped up and headed for the door. Startled by Snow’s sudden unexplained exit, Lily followed her sister outside. There she found Snow coughing and spitting into the shrubbery. She put a gentle hand on Snow’s back, and remained silent until Snow could compose herself. Snow leaned back up to see Lily’s questioning and concerned eyes, "It’s this ulcer. Karen diagnosed me with this ulcer just before I was married. I thought that being on this bland diet would allow it to subside like it did before, but it hasn’t seemed to have helped this time." "Are you sure it’s an ulcer, Snow?" "What else would it be?" Lily thought for a second before offering, "Have you told Mike you’re still sick?" "No. I didn’t want to worry him, and I know it will. There’s just so many other things going on right now. This is the last thing we need to worry about. I think I’m alright now, though." Lily took her hand, and Snow and Lily headed back toward the front of the cabin when Snow stopped and wobbled a bit, "What is it, Snow?" "I’m a little dizzy. All that heaving really takes a toll on your balance, you know?" Lily witnessed Snow wobbling a little too much for comfort and grabbed her to keep her from falling. "Wait, let me help you inside." Lily took her by the arm and waist, but after about two steps, Snow slipped through Lily’s arms and onto the ground. "Snow!" Quickly, Lily knelt down by her sister and softly patted her face, "Snow? Are you alright?" She gave no answer. It appeared that her sister was out cold. Gently, Lily felt a hand touch her shoulder, "Oh Mike, thank God! There’s something wrong with Snow. I think we should get her to the surgery." Suddenly a hand firmly clamped itself over her mouth and she was yanked backwards. Finding herself firmly pressed against someone’s chest, Lily was too scared to move, much less to look back to see who this was. Perhaps it was because she already knew, and she closed her eyes to wish once again that she could wake up at Thomas’ or Neville’s or anywhere but here. She almost found a comfort in thinking that it was Nigel, but not quite…and she knew it wasn’t. "So little gypsy, it appears that you have a twin." That voice stabbed through her head seemingly piercing her eardrums with its gruff and familiar tone. "I always thought that House of White Princess looked a lot like you. But the question is, would she be as much fun as my little gypsy?" Phillipe reached out and brushed his hand against her unconscious sister’s cheek, "Maybe we could find out, eh?" Lily felt a fierce rage surge through her entire body as the image came into her mind of this monster doing the same unspeakable act to her sister that she had suffered all those years. The adrenaline gripped Lily’s system, and she clamped down hard on Phillipe’s hand with her teeth. With a cry in pain, the Captain released his clasp over Lily’s mouth long enough for Lily to reach over and grab a large nearby branch and whack Phillipe across the side of his head. She’d hoped it would knock him out, but sadly it didn’t. As she quickly rose to her feet, she observed Phillipe shaking off the blow. She began to back away, but she couldn’t run away…not yet. She wasn’t leaving this bastard here with her sister lying there helpless and alone. She found the strength within herself to try to think rationally about her situation. ‘Think Lily, think.’ What should she do? She didn’t know if anyone was still at the hut…what about Mike? If he’s checking the storehouse, he wouldn’t be there either. This was a battle she needed to face on her own. Tired of being haunted by this man throughout every day and night of her life…she was going to end it once and for all. What could she do…she didn’t have her gun with her. Bugger! She wished Ribold had finished her leather holster so she could wear the gun on her at all times. What else…what else could she do? She silently wished she’d had her "puppy-like" escort Neville with her. Quickly she blinked, as if willing her brain to use her fear to her advantage and think. Suddenly, it dawned on her…that’s it! Lily slowly began backing away from the cabin. If she could get Phillipe to follow her, to get him away from her sister, she might have this one chance. Casually, she removed her scarf from her head and dropped it to the ground. Hopefully, the village would find it and possibly follow them into the woods. Furious, the Captain stood to his feet nursing the head wound Lily had delivered, "You gypsy bitch! You’ll be sorry you did that! You just wait! It won’t be so easy this time. You’ll wish you were fourteen again! That will be child’s play compared to when I get my hands on you this time!" His words terrified Lily all the more. ‘Brush it off, don’t think about it!’ thought Lily. She gathered her strength, "Oh yeah! You’ll have to catch me first!" In a flash, Lily turned and ran towards the woods…into the sea of skeleton-like trees and beyond that, total blackness. Where this sight in front of her would normally frighten Lily, nothing could frighten her more than what followed close behind her.

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